THE 

EARLY  AMERICAN  NOVEL 


BY 

LILLIE   DEMING  LOSHE 


SUBMITTED  IN  PARTIAL  FULFILMENT  OF  THE  REQUIREMENTS  FOR 

THE  DEGREE  OF  DOCTOR  OF  PHILOSOPHY,  IN  THE  FACULTY 

OF  PHILOSOPHY,  COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY 


NEW  YORK 
1907 


THE   EARLY  AMERICAN  NOVEL 


THE 


EARLY  AMERICAN  NOVEL 


BY 

LILLIE   DEMING  LOSHE 


SUBMITTED  IN  PARTIAL   FULFILMENT  OF  THE  REQUIREMENTS  FOR 

THE  DEGREE  OF  DOCTOR  OF  PHILOSOPHY,  IN  THE  FACULTY 

OF  PHILOSOPHY,  COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY 


NEW   YORK 
1907 


IJ 

r 


PRESS  OF 

THE  NEW  ERA  PRINTING  COMPANY 
LANCASTER.  PA. 


>*•• 

OF  THE 


UNIVERSITY;  i 

<*  ^/s  *~^° 


PREFACE 

To  present  a  fairly  comprehensive  account  of  the  earliest 
attempts  at  novel  writing  in  America  has  been  the  aim  of  this 
study.  The  period  covered — that  from  1789  to  1830 — opens 
with  the  publication  of  the  first  tentative  and  amateurish 
American  novels  and  at  its  close  leaves  the  novel  an  established 
form  in  American  literature. 

In  dealing  with  these  early  tales  much  space  has  been  given 
to  description  of  the  stories  themselves.  This  method  of  treat 
ment  seemed  to  be  necessary  for  two  reasons — because  these 
tales  are  little  known,  indeed,  with  a  few  exceptions,  they  are 
generally  unknown,  and  because  most  of  them  are  rare,  and 
some  of  them  almost  inaccessible. 

The  early  American  drama  has,  of  course,  received  much 
attention  and  investigation,  but  the  corresponding  period  in  the 
history  of  fiction  has  been  neglected.  Yet  the  first  forty  years 
of  American  fiction  produced  two  novelists  of  real  importance, 
Charles  Brocken  Brown  and  James  Fenimore  Cooper,  while 
the  drama  produced  no  playwright  of  lasting  interest  or  in 
fluence.  The  history  of  novel  writing  in  this  period  seems, 
therefore,  to  have  some  claim  to  attention  from  the  point  of 
view  of  literary  history  as  well  as  from  that  of  social  interest. 

The  difficulty  of  gathering  material  so  generally  un 
sought  by  either  students  or  collectors  has  been  considerable. 
So  many  books  have  been  discovered  by  chance  that  I  am 
conscious  that  there  must  be  many  others  to  which  no  chance 
has  led  me.  It  *  seems  probable,  however,  that  any  further 
discoveries  will  fall  into  some  one  of  the  classes  of  fiction  here 
discussed,  and  will  thus  be  chiefly  of  bibliographical  importance. 

My  indebtedness  to  Mr.  Oscar  Wegelin's  bibliography  of 
early  American  fiction  is  obvious  and  great.  I  wish,  also,  to 
express  my  thanks  to  Mr.  Wegelin  for  aid  in  obtaining  books 
and  for  several  additional  titles.  I  am  indebted  to  Mr. 


vi 

Edward  B.  Reed  of  Yale  University  for  information  in  re 
gard  to  Alonzo  and  Melissa;  to  the  officers  of  the  New  York 
Society  Library  for  many  courtesies  and  for  the  use  of  their 
excellent  collection  of  early  fiction,  both  English  and  Amer 
ican,  and  to  the  officers  of  the  Library  of  Columbia  University 
for  assistance  in  obtaining  books. 

The  original  inspiration  and  the  subsequent  patient  guidance 
of  this  study  constitute  only  a  small  part  of  my  debt  of  grati 
tude  to  Professor  W.  P.  Trent  of  Columbia  University.  I 
take  this  opportunity  to  express  my  grateful  thanks  for  many 
years  of  personal  kindness  and  scholarly  inspiration. 


VHE 

UNIVERSITY 


CHAPTER   I 
THE  DIDACTIC  AND  THE  SENTIMENTAL 

WHEN  the  Revolution  made  a  conscious  separation  between 
American  and  English  literature,  America  had  already  de 
veloped  a  considerable  literary  activity.  Among  the  fruits 
of  this  incipient  literary  culture  were  a  mass  of  religious 
writing,  much  verse,  some  history,  a  few  attempts  at  drama, 
and  a  large  amount  of  political  and  controversial  writing. 
The  genre  most  noticeably  absent  from  this  list  is  the  novel. 
Colonial  America  had  produced  no  novelist,  although  in  Eng 
land  the  great  novels  of  the  century  had  long  been  written. 
In  view  of  the  active  interest  shown  in  poetry  and  the  drama, 
such  apparent  neglect  of  a  prevailing  literary  fashion  can 
not  be  attributed  to  lack  of  literary  ambition  and  effort.  Its 
causes  are  rather  to  be  sought  in  two  important  aspects  of 
early  American  culture, — the  surviving  Puritan  spirit,  and  the 
colonial  spirit. 

The  Puritan  attitude  toward  the  lighter  forms  of  literature 
is  too  well  known  to  need  discussion  here.  Its  survival  is 
evident  in  the  words  of  Timothy  D wight,  whose  taste  for 
poetry,  and  music,  and  other  unpuritanical  joys  could  not 
reconcile  him  to  the  sudden  development  of  fiction  which  took 
place  in  his  day.  "  Between  the  Bible  and  novels  there  is  a 
gulf  fixed,"  he  says,1  "  which  few  novel  readers  are  willing 
to  pass.  The  consciousness  of  virtue,  the  dignified  pleasure 
of  having  performed  one's  duty,  the  serene  remembrance  of 
a  useful  life,  the  hope  of  an  interest  in  the  Redeemer,  and  the 
promise  of  a  glorious  inheritance  in  the  favor  of  God  are  never 
found  in  novels." 

The  novelists  of  the  earlier  period  in  America  show,  in  their 
prefaces,  a  nervous  consciousness  of  the  possibility  of  such 
censure,  and  endeavor  to  forestall  it  by  showing  that  they  are 

1  Travels  in  New  England  and  New  York.     London,  1823,  Vol.  I,  p.  477. 
2  1 


not  as  other  novelists — that  their  works  are  calculated,  not  to 
mislead,  but  to  direct,  the  young  mind.  The  Reverend  Enos 
Hitchcock,  one  of  our  earliest  writers  of  fiction,  and,  like 
Timothy  Dwight,  a  Revolutionary  chaplain,  makes  his  heroine 
utter  the  warning1 — "  Nothing  can  have  a  worse  effect  on  the 
mind  of  our  sex  than  the  free  use  of  those  writings  which  are 
the  offspring  of  modern  novelists."  The  same  dread  of  the 
pernicious  effects  of  novel  reading  appears  in  Mrs.  Foster, 
Mrs.  Rowson,  and  the  other  literary  ladies  who  were  our  first 
novelists. 

Puritanism,  of  course,  did  not  control  the  opinions  of  the 
whole  country.  More  general  was  the  colonial  spirit,  under 
whose  influence  Americans  looked  to  England  as  their  mother 
country,  gave  their  sons  an  English  education,  whenever  pos 
sible,  and  sought  in  English  manners  a  model  for  their  own. 
Readers  filled  with  such  a  spirit  naturally  satisfied  their  taste 
for  fiction  with  the  stories  of  English  life  which  constant 
traffic  and  intercourse  made  accessible. 

This  spirit  of  filial  acceptance  could  not  survive  the  Revolu 
tion.  When  the  confusion  of  war  had  had  time  to  subside, 
thoughtful  people,  gazing  with  a  pardonable  complacency  on 
what  they  had  already  accomplished,  decided  that  thereafter 
manners  and  letters,  as  well  as  laws,  should  be  home-made. 
"  We  have  already,"  said  the  Reverend  Enos  Hitchcock,  "  suf 
fered  by  too  great  an  avidity  for  British  customs  and  manners, 
it  is  now  time  to  become  independent  in  our  maxims,  prin 
ciples  of  education,  dress,  and  manners,  as  we  are  in  our  laws 
and  government."2  Ardent  patriots  at  once  applied  them 
selves  to  the  task  of  supplying  a  literature  which  should 
reflect  American  manners.  Thus  the  new  spirit  of  national 
self-consciousness  united  with  the  unbending  of  the  Puritan 
spirit  to  make  the  last  decade  of  the  eighteenth  century  one 
of  novel  writing,  as  well  as  of  novel  reading. 

Royall  Tyler,  in  the  preface  to  his  Algerine  Captive?  pub- 

1  Memoirs  of  the  Bloomsgrove  Family.     Boston,  1790,  Vol.  II,  p.  82. 

2  Memoirs  of  the  Bloomsgrove  Family.     Vol.  I,  p.  16. 

3  The   Algerine    Captive,    or    the   Life    and   Adventures   of  Dr.    Updike 
Underhill,  a  Prisoner  among  the  Algerines.     Walpole,  Vt.,  1797. 


3 

lished  in  1797,  illustrates  both  the  changed  attitude  toward  the 
reading  of  fiction  and  the  demand  for  a  novel  of  native  man 
ners.  "  One  of  the  first  observations  the  author  of  the  follow 
ing  sheets  made  upon  his  return  to  his  native  country,  after 
an  absence  of  seven  years,  was  the  extreme  avidity  with  which 
books  of  mere  amusement  were  purchased  and  perused  by  his 
countrymen.  When  he  left  New  England,  books  of  biog 
raphy,  travels,  and  modern  romances  were  confined  to  our 
seaports;  or  if  known  in  the  country  were  read  only  in  the 
families  of  clergymen,  physicians,  and  lawyers;  while  certain 
funeral  discourses,  the  last  words  and  dying  speeches  of  Bryan 
Shaheen  and  Levi  Ames,  and  some  dreary  somebody's  day  of 
Doom,  formed  the  most  diverting  parts  of  the  farmer's  library." 
When  he  returned,  however,  he  found  that  libraries  and  book 
sellers  had  filled  the  land  with  "  modern  travels  and  novels 
almost  as  incredible.  .  .  .  No  sooner  was  a  taste  for  amus 
ing  literature  diffused,  than  all  orders  of  country  life  with  one 
accord  forsook  the  sober  sermons  and  practical  pieties  of  their 
fathers  for  the  gay  stories  and  splendid  impieties  of  the 
traveller  and  the  novelist.  The  worthy  farmer  no  longer 
fatigued  himself  with  Bunyan's  Pilgrims  up  the  hill  of  diffi 
culty  .  .  .  but  quaffed  wine  with  Brydone  in  the  hermitage 
of  Vesuvius,  or  sported  with  Bruce  in  the  fairy  land  of 
Abyssinia."  The  dairymaid  and  the  hired  man,  he  says,  no 
longer  wept  over  the  ballad  of  the  cruel  step-mother,  but 
amused  themselves  into  an  agreeable  terror  with  the  haunted 
houses  and  hobgoblins  of  Mrs.  Radcliffe. 

Two  things,  however,  the  author  finds  to  be  deplored.  "  The 
first  is  that  while  so  many  books  are  vended  they  are  not  of 
our  own  manufacture.1  .  .  .  The  second  misfortune  is  that, 
novels  being  the  picture  of  the  time,  the  New  England  reader 
is  insensibly  taught  to  admire  the  levity,  and  often  the  vices, 
of  the  mother  country.  ...  If  the  English  novel  does  not 
inculcate  vice,  it  at  least  impresses  on  the  young  mind  an 
erroneous  idea  of  the  world  in  which  she  is  to  live.  It  paints 
the  manners,  customs,  and  habits  of  a  strange  country ;  excites 

1  See  also  the  Massachusetts  Magazine,  1791,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  662.  "On 
modern  novels  and  their  effects." 


a  fondness  for  false  splendors ;  and  renders  the  habits  of  her 
own  country  disgusting.  '  There  are  two  things  wanted,'  said 
a  friend  to  the  author,  '  that  we  write  our  own  books  of  amuse 
ment  and  that  they  exhibit  our  own  manners/ ''  Tyler's  own 
tale  was  to  "  display  a  portrait  of  New  England  manners 
hitherto  unattempted." 

To  English  novelists,  however,  the  aspiring  authors  looked 
for  models.  Humphrey  Clinker,  the  last  book  of  any  of  the 
great  novelists  of  the  century,  had  been  published  in  1771.  Be 
tween  its  publication  and  that  of  the  first  American  novel  in  1789 
only  one  novel  of  real  merit  had  appeared — Fanny  Burney's 
Evelina  in  1781.  The  production  of  novels  in  this  period,  how 
ever,  had  been  astonishing  in  quantity.  The  hopelessness  of 
any  attempt  to  characterize  this  mass  of  fiction,  or  to  classify 
it  according  to  influences,  is  pleasantly  illustrated  by  the  fact 
that  Mr.  Raleigh1  describes  Robert  Bage  as  coming  nearest 
of  all  imitators  to  Richardson,  while  Mr.  Saintsbury2  finds  in 
him  an  imitator  of  Fielding  and  Smollett  with  the  addition  of 
a  deliberately  immoral  purpose,  and  Mr.  Cross3  says  that  Bage 
had  "  posed  in  literature  as  a  second  Sterne."  Certain  types 
and  characteristic  themes  can,  nevertheless,  be  distinguished 
among  the  countless  "  memoirs,"  "  histories,"  "  adventures," 
"  domestic  stories,"  "  sacred  novels,"  and  "  tales  of  real  life," 
written  by  "  ladies  of  quality,"  "  ladies  of  distinction,"  "  sons 
of  Neptune,"  and  assumers  of  other  elegant  aliases. 

The  various  adventures  are  usually  strings  of  incidents,  so 
far  beyond  the  scope  of  one  man's  possible  experience  that  they 
are  assigned  to  some  object  easily  capable  of  passing  from  one 
hand  to  another,  such  as  a  guinea,  a  shilling,  a  gold  headed 
cane,  or  a  lap-dog.  The  purpose  of  these  is  satirical,  and  this 
intention  is  shared  by  the  various  Quixotes,  the  female  Quixote, 

1  Walter  Raleigh,  The  English  Novel,  New  York,  1906,  p.  211. 

2 "  An  imitator  of  Fielding  and  Smollett  in  general  plan,  of  the  latter 
especially  in  the  dangerous  scheme  of  narrative  by  letter, — Bage  added  to 
their  methods  the  purpose  of  advocating  a  looser  scheme  of  morals  and  a 
more  anarchical  system  of  government."  A  History  of  Nineteenth  Century 
Literature.  London  and  New  York,  1899,  p.  42. 

8W.  L.  Cross,  The  Development  of  the  English  Novel,  New  York  and 
London,  1904,  p.  88. 


the  spiritual  Quixote,  the  benevolent  Quixote,  the  infernal 
Quixote,  and  the  like. 

The  various  histories,  domestic  stories,  and  tales  of  real  life, 
of  every  degree  of  romance  and  realism,  of  every  condition  of 
life  from  the  cottage  to  the  castle,  have  elements  inherited  from 
their  great  predecessors.  The  influence  of  Richardson  persists 
rather  in  subject  than  in  manner.  He  has  contributed  the 
fascination  exerted  by  tales  of  seduction,  as  Fielding  has  given 
the  nobly  devoted  wife,  who  becomes  one  of  the  stock  figures 
of  the  domestic  tale.  But,  while  Fielding  merely  left  the  char 
acter  of  his  Booth  somewhat  colorless  in  order  that  the  virtues 
of  his  Amelia  might  shine  more  brightly,  later  writers,  craving 
more  vivid  contrasts,  painted  the  unfortunate  marital  back 
ground  a  sooty  black.  The  influence  of  Sterne,  which  seems 
generally  to  be  filtered  through  Mackenzie,  is  present  in  forms 
varying  from  a  melting  sensibility,  "a  dropping  of  warm  tears," 
if  one  may  borrow  that  phrase,  to  a  scarcely  perceptible 
humidity  of  atmosphere.  Of  these  three  influences  that  of 
Fielding  is  the  least  felt,  in  part,  perhaps,  because  it  is  the  least 
easy  to  detect,  but  more  decidedly  because  the  first  requisite 
for  a  novelist  at  this  time  seems  to  have  been  the  entire  absence 
of  any  sense  of  humor. 

The  favorite  ingredients  of  these  tales  are  a  lovely  and 
gifted  heroine,  a  devoted  wife  and  mother  with  a  brutal  and 
vicious  husband,  or  a  vain  and  negligent  mother,  whose  kind 
and  pious  spouse  expires  early  in  the  first  volume  leaving  his 
daughter  without  a  protector,  a  heartless  relative  or  guar 
dian,  preferably  an  aunt,  a  confidante  who  is  usually,  as  one 
of  them  describes  herself,  "  a  sprightly  toad,"  a  virtuous  hero, 
a  designing  villain,  and  one  or  two  faithful  retainers.  Many 
of  these  tales  can  be  reduced  to  the  trials  of  a  helpless  maiden, 
consequent  upon  ill-treatment  by  an  unfeeling  relative.  The 
alluring  simplicity  of  this  formula,  and  its  infinite  possibilities 
of  variation,  commended  it  to  the  many  aspiring  novelists  of 
the  day.  It  supplied,  in  particular,  a  theme  to  the  women 
novelists  whose  band  had  grown  in  numbers  and  prosperity1 

1  The  first  edition  of  Vancenza,  or  the  Dangers  of  Credulity,  by  Mrs. 
M.  Robinson,  is  said  to  have  been  "  Sold  off  in  London  before  12  o'clock 
of  the  day  on  which  it  first  issued  from  the  press."  New  York  Magazine, 
Vol.  I,  p.  303. 


6 

since  Smollett  had  said  of  novel-writing :  "  That  branch  of  busi 
ness  is  now  engrossed  by  female  authors  who  publish  merely  for 
the  propagation  of  virtue,  with  so  much  ease,  and  spirit,  and 
delicacy,  and  knowledge  of  the  human  heart,  and  all  in  the 
serene  tranquillity  of  high  life,  that  the  reader  is  not  only  en 
chanted  by  their  genius  but  reformed  by  their  morality."1 

Although  these  conventional  themes  and  personages  were 
most  abundant  in  the  novels  of  the  century's  last  three  decades, 
other  elements  were  then  entering  fiction.  The  growing  spirit 
of  romanticism  is  seen  not  only  in  the  more  romantic  situations 
of  these  tales,  exemplified  in  Mrs.  Bennett's  melodrama  De  Val- 
court,  but  in  the  popularity  of  other  forms,  the  oriental  tale  and 
apologue,  the  educational  romance  inspired  by  Rousseau,  and 
the  educational  tales  for  the  edification  of  the  young,  influenced 
by  Madame  de  Genlis,  of  which  the  classic  example  is  Sand- 
ford  and  Merton.  Toward  the  end  of  the  period  the  pseudo- 
historical  novel  and  the  tale  of  terror  flourished  side  by  side. 
French  and  German  fiction,  in  part  through  Holcroft's  trans 
lations,  reached  English  readers,  and  the  "  heroine  in  the  Kot- 
zebue  taste,"  so  displeasing  to  Miss  Edgeworth,  was  introduced 
to  the  Ellens,  Emmelines,  and  Elizas  of  the  "  female  novelists." 

It  is  to  these  female  novelists,  rather  than  to  the  great  writers 
who  preceded  them  or  to  the  more  dignified  schools  of  Gothic,- 
historical,  and  revolutionary  fiction  which  filled  the  last  decade 
of  the  century,  that  we  owe  our  first  novelists*  The  women 
who  wrote  fiction  in  England  had,  for  the  most,  part,  little 
power  of  construction  and  less  of  character-drawing;  their 
stories  were  encumbered  by  "  episodes  "  without  organic  rela 
tion  to  the  plot ;  and  their  style  was  often  both  essentially  weak 
and  disfigured  by  Delia  Cruscan  ornamentation.  Their  expe 
rience  of  life  was  apparently  small,  their  invention  limited  to 
new  combinations  of  well-worn  situations  and  personages.  It 
was  scarcely  to  be  expected  that  their  sisters  and  heirs,  the  first 
American  novelists,  should  produce  works  of  enduring  literary 
merit. 

Didacticism  and  sentimentality  were  the  chief  characteristics 
*  of  the  British  novel  in  the  period  immediately  preceding  the 

1  Smollett,  Miscellaneous  Works,  Vol.  VI.     (Humphrey  Clinker),  p.  136. 


vogue  of  the  Gothic.  I  Naturally  the  same  moods  and  purposes  J 
appear  in  the  first  American  novels,1  most  of  which,  like  their  / 
British  models,  were  the  work  of  women.     The  writings  of  ^ 
these  women  fall  into  two  groups :  the  first  of  which  includes 
the  more  directly  didactic  tales,  whose  authors  proclaim  their 
moral  purpose,  while  the  second  consists  of  stories  more  ro 
mantic  in  spirit,  describing  sentimental  vicissitudes  for  their 
own  sake,   rather  than  for  the  moral  lessons  they  suggest.   / 
Slightly  different  influences  appear  in  the  few  men  who  wrote 
novels  before  Charles  Brockden  Brown.     But  their  work  is 
so  usually  didactic  in  purpose,  and  so  frequently  sentimental  in 
tone,  that  it  may  conveniently  be  considered  in  connection  with 
that  of  the  more  numerous  women  novelists  who  represent  sen 
timental  didacticism  in  its  most  typical  forraA 

The  first  to  attempt  the  moral  regeneration  of  the  youth  of 
America,  through  the  persuasive  art  of  fiction,  was  the  New  -• 
England  poetess,  Mrs.  Sarah  Wentworth  Morton.2  She  had 
observed  that  "  didactic  essays  are  not  always  capable  of  en 
gaging  the  attention  of  young  ladies.  We  fly  from  the  laboured 
precepts  of  the  essayist  to  the  sprightly  narrative  of  the  nov 
elist."  Mrs.  Morton  was  doubtless  supported  in  the  under 
taking  by  the  consciousness  of  an  established  literary  reputa 
tion.3  Her  poems  earned  for  her  the  title  of  "the  American 
Sappho."  To  her  novel,  The  Power  of  Sympathy,  she  prefixed 
a  solemn  dedication  to  the  young  ladies  of  Columbia,  which 
the  printer,  perceiving  the  greatness  of  the  occasion,  adorned 

1  A  few  novels  of  these  earliest  years  of  American  fiction  belong  to  new 
and  different  types  and  will  be  discussed  in  Chapter  III. 

2  A    woman    of    American    birth,    Mrs.    Charlotte    Lennox,    had    been    a 
popular  novelist  in   England  nearly  forty  years  before   the  publication   of    ^ 
The  Power  of  Sympathy.     But  she  left  America  while  still  a  child  and  can 
hardly  be  claimed  as  an  ornament  of  American  literature.     Her  satirical 
novel,  The  Female  Quixote,  was  much  read,  and  was  honored  with  a  dedi 
cation   from  the  hand   of   Dr.  Johnson.     She  was   the   author  of  several 
novels,  of  Shakespeare  Illustrated  or  Novels  and  Histories  on  which   his 
plays  are  founded,  and  of  a  variety  of  other  literary  efforts.     (See  Diet, 
of  Nat.  Biog.) 

3  Mrs.    Morton,    who    was   born   in    1759,    married    Percy    Morton,    later 
Attorney-General   of   Massachusetts.     She   was   early   a   contributor  to   the 
Massachusetts  Magazine   and  became   one   of   the   chief   adornments   of   a 
literary  circle.     Her  verse  is  of  an  elegant  and  Delia  Cruscan  insipidity. 


8 

with  eleven  different  kinds  and  sizes  of  type.  Her  preface 
proclaims  the  purpose  of  the  work  "to  expose  the  dangerous 
Consequences  of  Seduction  and  to  set  forth  the  advantages  of 
female  Education." 

The  story  itself  is  more  easily  described  by  showing  what 
it  is  intended  to  be  than  by  trying  to  explain  what  it  is.  The 
personages  of  the  tragedy  obviously  belong  to  types  monoto 
nously  familiar  in  the  fiction  of  the  time.  The  lovely  injured 
heroine  is  present  in  the  person  of  Harriet  Fawcet ;  Myra  Har 
rington  is  the  playful  but  warm-hearted  confidante,  Mrs. 
Francis,  with  whom  Harriet  lives  as  companion,  the  unfeeling 
relative,  and  Worthy  is  the  sensible  friend  of  the  volatile  hero. 
This  hero,  Harrington,  originally  intended  for  a  gay  young 
Lovelace,  says  of  himself,  at  the  outset  of  the  narrative,  that 
the  moralist  and  the  amoroso,  sentiment  and  sensibility,  are  so 
interwoven  in  his  constitution  that  "nature  and  grace  are  at 
continual  fisticuffs."  One  glance  of  Harriet's  eye,  however, 
ends  forever  both  the  fisticuffs  and  his  designs  upon  her  peace 
of  mind.  Thereafter  he  exhibits,  in  happy  combination,  the 
thrilling  sensibility  of  a  Marianne  Dashwood,  with  the  erudite 
morality  of  a  Mary  Bennett.  Animated  by  the  spirit  of  the 
latter,  he  says  of  a  dance  to  which  he  is  to  accompany  Harriet : 
"  These  elegant  relaxations  prevent  the  degeneracy  of  human 
nature,  exhilarate  the  spirits,  and  wind  up  this  machine  of  ours 
for  another  revolution  of  business."  Harriet  and  Harrington 
are  at  once  betrothed,  and  the  author  is  at  liberty  to  turn  to 
the  real  object  of  the  work,  sentimental  and  moral  discussions 
of  education,  literature,  and  manners,  with  emphasis  on  the  con 
sequences  of  seduction,  and  anecdotes  to  point  the  moral.  These 
discussions  are  carried  on  under  the  auspices  of  Mrs.  Holmes, 
a  "  serious  sentimentalist,"  devoted  to  rural  retirement,  who 
sits  in  one  of  the  "  temple  "  summer-houses  dear  to  the  "  ele 
gant  female"  of  the  eighteenth  century,  quoting  Sterne  and 
moralizing.  Her  part,  that  of  the  middle-aged  patroness  and 
adviser,  is  consistently  carried  out.  After  Mrs.  Morton  has 
preached  her  sermon,  she  enforces  its  precepts  by  the  fate  of 
her  lovers.  When  Harrington  insists  on  marrying  Harriet,  in 
spite  of  paternal  opposition,  his  conscience-stricken  father  con- 


9 

f esses  that  Harriet  is  his  sister.  Harriet  dies  of  a  broken  heart, 
in  a  lingering,  graceful  manner.  A  few  days  later  Harrington 
is  found  slain  by  his  own  hand.  On  his  table,  beside  his  last 
will  and  testament,  lies  The  Sorrows  of  Werther.'1 

The  story  is  without  construction  or  attempt  at  characteriza 
tion.  Its  sentiment,  a  tepid  infusion  of  Sterne,  may  be  judged 
from-  Worthy's  tribute  to  Myra's  sampler :  "  '  It  is  the  work 
of  Myra/  said  I  to  myself.  '  Did  not  her  fingers  trace  these 
beautiful  expanding  flowers?  Did  she  not  give  to  this  carna 
tion  its  animated  glow,  and  to  this  opening  rose  its  languishing 
grace?  Removed,  as  I  am/  continued  I,  in  a  certain  interior 
language  that  every  son  of  nature  possesses — '  Removed  as  I 
am,  from  the  amiable  object  of  my  tenderest  affection,  I  have 
nothing  to  do  but  admire  this  offspring  of  industry  and  art.  It 
shall  yield  more  fragrance  to  my  soul  than  all  the  boquets  in 
the  universe/  " 

Of  the  many  passages  of  attempted  poetical  style,  the  most 
elaborate  are  a  Dante-inspired  vision  of  the  lower  world  shown 
to  the  guilty  father,  and  the  history  of  Fidelia,  a  pink-ribboned 
New  England  Ophelia,  whose  morbid  interest  in  the  brook  is 
justified  by  the  fact  that  her  lover  once  drowned  himself  in  it. 
Poems  are  also  inserted  in  the  text,  a  practice  common  in  that 
period  and  particularly  acceptable  to  Mrs.  Morton  who  had 
been  a  poet  before  she  became  a  novel  writer.  One  extract 
from  Harrington's  epitaph,  composed  by  himself,  may  illus 
trate  the  gift  of  the  American  Sappho. 

"  When  on  their  urn  celestial  care  descends, 
Two  lovers  come,  whom  fair  success  attends, 
O'er  the  pale  marble  shall  they  join  their  heads, 
And  drink  the  falling  tears  each  other  sheds, 
Then  sadly  say,  with  mutual  pity  mov'd, 
O  !  may  we  never  love  as  these  have  loved." 

Mrs.  Susanna  Haswell  Rowson,  whose  most  successful  novel, 
Charlotte  Temple,  was  published  in  1790,  had  a  more  eventful 

xThe  influence  of  the  Sorrows  of  Werther  on  the  mind  of  impulsive 
youth  appears  in  many  of  our  nearly  novels,  for  example,  in  The  Hapless 
Orphan  and  The  Letters  of  Ferdinand  and  Elizabeth,  and  one  tale,  The 
Slave  of  Passion,  or  the  Fruits  of  Werther,  Philadelphia,  1802,  is  delib 
erately  directed  against  this  insidious  evil. 


10 

career  than  Mrs.  Morton.  She  was  born  in  England,  in  1762, 
but  was  brought  to  America  four  years  later  when  her  father, 
a  naval  officer  on  the  American  station,  married  an  American 
lady,  was  retired,  and  settled  at  Nantasket.  The  hardships  of 
the  voyage  were  later  described  in  Rebecca.  The  quiet  life 
of  the  Haswell  family  was  interrupted  by  the  Revolutionary 
War.  Mr.  Haswell  would  not  serve  against  the  king,  and  con 
sequently  was  regarded  as  a  suspicious  person,  whose  situation 
would  make  it  easy  for  him  to  aid  the  king's  ships.  After  some 
harrowing  adventures,  which  appear  in  Rebecca,  the  Has  wells 
were  ordered  to  remove  to  Hingham,  and  the  next  year  to 
Abington.  Later  they  were  allowed  to  go  to  Halifax,  and 
thence  to  England. 

In  London  Susanna's  trials  really  began.  To  help  in  the 
struggle  for  maintenance,  she  became  a  governess.  In  1786 
she  married,  to  please  her  family,  her  father's  friend,  William 
Rowson,  who  combined  the  activities  of  a  hardware  merchant 
with  those  of  a  trumpeter  in  the  Royal  Horse  Guards.  Mrs. 
Rowson's  opinion  of  matrimony  was  never  enthusiastically 
favorable.  Nason,  her  biographer,  sensibly  observes  that  the 
warning  prefixed  to  her  Sarah,  or  the  Exemplary  Wife,  "  do 
not  marry  a  fool,"  was  probably  the  result  of  experience.1 

In  1793,  Mr.  Rowson's  business  having  completely  failed, 
the  stage  was  tried  as  a  last  resort.  The  Rowson  family,  con 
sisting  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Rowson  and  a  young  sister  of  the 
former,  appeared  in  the  provinces  for  a  season,  apparently  with 
no  remarkable  success,  and  were  glad  to  obtain  an  engagement 
at  the  Chestnut  Street  Theater  in  Philadelphia.  This  brought 
Mrs.  Rowson  back  to  America  where  the  rest  of  her  life  was 
spent.  From  1793  to  1797  the  Rowsons  remained  on  the  stage. 
During  these  years  Mrs.  Rowson,  who  had  already  published 
several  novels,  became  a  playwright  as  well  as  an  actress.2 

In  Boston,  in  1797,  Mrs.  Rowson  began  what  was  destined 

1  Elias   Nason,  A  Memoir  of  Mrs.  Susanna  Rowson  with  Elegant  and 
Illustrative  Extracts  from  her  Writings  in  Prose  and  Poetry,     Albany,  N. 
Y.,  1870. 

2  One  of  her  productions,   a  comedy,   called  Americans  in  England,  or 
Lessons  for  Daughters,  was  presented  at  a  benefit  in   1797-     Others  were 
The  Female  Patriot,  The  Volunteers,  and  an  opera,  Slaves  in  Algiers. 


11 

to  be  a  long  and  illustrious  pedagogical  career,  with  a  school 
containing  one  pupil.  By  the  end  of  the  year  she  had  a  hun 
dred  scholars  and  a  waiting  list ;  "  yet,"  her  biographer  exclaims 
with  pardonable  pride,  "  she  suffefed  not  the  ink  to  dry  upon 
her  graceful  pen."  For  the  rest  of  her  life  she  enjoyed  a  long- 
delayed  prosperity.  Her  literary  reputation  made  her  the  cen 
ter  of  a  group  of  learned  ladies.  In  1802  she  became  the 
editor  of  a  new  periodical,  the  Boston  Weekly  Magazine. 
Three  years  later  this  was  superseded  by  the  Monthly  Anthol 
ogy,  to  which  she  was  a  frequent  contributor.  To  the  New 
England  Galaxy,  started  in  1815,  she  made  contributions  of  a 
religious  character.  The  most  important  of  her  works  in  prose 
were  a  series  of  papers  modelled  on  the  Spectator,  and  a  serial 
novel,  Sincerity,  published,  in  1813,  as  Sarah,  or  the  Exemplary 
Wife.  In  1804  her  miscellaneous-  poems  were  published.  She 
wrote  much  occasional  verse,  many  recitations  for  the  use  of 
her  scholars,1  and  some  educational  works  in  prose.2  She  died 
in  1824. 

Mrs.  Rowson's  career  as  a  novelist  began  in  the  year  of  her 
marriage.  Her  first  novel  Victoria  appeared  in  1786,  followed 
the  next  year  by  Mary,  or  the  Test  of  Honour,  and  in  1788  by 
The  Inquisitor,  or  the  Invisible  Rambler.  In  1790  Charlotte 
Temple  was  published.  Mentoria,  or  the  Young  Ladies  Friend 
(1791)  embodied  some  of  Mrs.  Rowson's  own  experiences  as 
a  governess.  Soon  after  appeared  Rebecca,  or  the  Fille  de 
Chambre. 

The  earliest  of  Mrs.  Rowson's  works  accessible  in  an  Amer 
ican  edition  is  The  Inquisitor  or  the  Invisible  Rambler,  pro 
fessedly  in  the  manner  of  Sterne.  Mrs.  Rowson,  however, 
possessed  little  sentiment  and  no  humor.  The  Inquisitor,  her 
would-be  sentimentalist,  whose  beneficent  undertakings  are 
furthered  by  a  magic  ring,  suggests  the  able  and  efficient 
agent  of  a  charity  organization  society.  Indeed  so  admirable 
is  his  economy  of  effort,  that  if  he  rescues  a  betrayed  and 

1 A  Present  for  Young  Ladies  containing  Poems,  Dialogues,  Addresses 
.  .  .  as  Recited  by  the  Pupils  of  Mrs.  Rowson's  Academy  at  the  annual 
exhibition.  Boston,  1811. 

2  Bible  Dialogues  between  a  Father  and  his  Family,  Boston,  1822.  Exer 
cises  in  History,  etc.,  Boston,  1822. 


12 

forsaken  maiden,  she  is  sure  to  be  the  long  lost  daughter  of 
the  penniless  old  soldier  whom  he  had  saved  from  insult  the 
week  before. 

Charlotte  Temple,  a  Tale  of  Truth  (London,  1790,  New  York, 
1794),  established  Mrs.  Rowson's  reputation,  and  still  main 
tains  it,  although  among  a  somewhat  different  class  of  readers. 
It  is  the  story  of  a  young  girl,  Charlotte  Temple,  or  Stanley, 
who  is  lured  away  from  a  boarding  school  by  a  young  officer 
and  a  wicked  French  governess,  taken  to  New  York,  and 
abandoned  to  die  in  misery.  Nothing  that  can  heighten  the 
sensational  effect  is  spared, — two  of  the  very  blackest  villains 
obtainable  are  employed  to  bring  about  the  catastrophe.  The 
question  at  once  suggests  itself — why  should  this  story  have 
survived,  to  linger  out  a  dishonored  old  age  in  yellow  paper 
covers,  when  all  its  equally  harrowing  contemporaries  have 
long  been  forgotten?  The  answer  lies  in  Mrs.  Rowson's  un 
deniable  command  of  the  sensational,  and  in  the  .comparative 
simplicity  and  directness  of  the  story  itself.1  There  are  many 
such  tales,  treated  merely  as  episodes  in  Mrs.  Rowson's  other 
novels,  which,  if  worked  out  separately  with  the  same  brevity 
and  workmanlike  construction,  might  have  won  the  same 
reputation. 

Lucy  Temple,  or  the  Three  Orphans  is  the  story  of  Char 
lotte's  daughter.  As  Lucy  Blakeney,  she  has  been  brought 
up  in  ignorance  of  her  mother's  history.  She  is  about  to 
marry  a  young  man  named  Franklin  when  it  is  discovered, 
as  in  The  Power  of  Sympathy,  that  he  is  the  son  of  her 
mother's  betrayer.  The  more  practical  bent  of  Mrs.  Rowson 
appears  in  Lucy's  decision  to  found  a  school  instead  of  dying 
of  a  broken  heart.  The  general  tone  of  the  novel  is  educa 
tional,  in  contrast  to  the  pure  sensationalism  of  Charlotte. 

The  Trials  of  the  Human  Heart  (1795)  is  best  described  in 
the  definition  of  a  novel2  given  by  the  translator  of  Alexis, 

1  A  more  dignified  reprint  of  the  first  edition  has  recently  been  issued, 
edited,  with  an  introduction  and  a  bibliography,  by  Francis  W.  Halsey,  New 
York,  1905. 

2  Alexis,  or  the  Cottage  in  the  Woods,  a  novel  from  the  French.     Boston, 
1796.     (Alexis:  ou  la  Maisonnette  dans  les  Bois.    .    .    .    Par  1'Auteur  de 
Lolotte  et  Fanfan,  Liege,   1790.) 


13 

"  a  concatenation  of  events  which  taken  separately  will  be 
worthy  of  belief."  In  its  four  volumes  horrors  worthy  of  the 
tragedy  of  blood  are  seen  domesticated  in  London.  Mrs. 
Rowson's  sensationalism  differs  from  that  of  most  of  her  con 
temporaries — from  that  of  Mrs.  Bennett  for  example — in  its 
complete  lack  of  romance.  Her  theme  here,  as  in  Rebecca  and 
in  Sarah,  is  the  bitter  struggle  of  a  poor  and  friendless  woman 
to  maintain  herself  in  a  world  in  which  her  beauty  and  accom 
plishments  are  only  added  dangers.  Meriel,  the  heroine,  after 
years  of  vicissitudes,  individually  conceived  with  some  crude 
force,  but  collectively  incredible  because  of  their  number, 
emerges  from  the  ordeal,  apparently  with  not  a  curl  displaced, 
to  marry  her  first  love. 

In  the  choice  of  her  horrors,  and  in  the  presentation  of  them, 
Mrs.  Rowson  is  essentially  a  realist,1  whose  trick  of  giving 
vividness  by  touches  of  homely  detail  was  probably  learned 
from  Richardson,  who  got  it  from  Defoe.  The  description  of 
the  room  furnished  for  Meriel  by  her  benefactor,  with  its  tent- 
bedstead  and  its  box  containing  a  piece  of  grey  lutestring,  and 
two  pieces  of  dark  chintz  enough  for  a  gown,  and  a  piece  of 
fine  linen,  resembles  one  of  Pamela's  conscientious  catalogues. 
This  crude  realism  of  situation,  without  any  corresponding 
truth  of  character,  has  given  Mrs.  Rowson  a  high  place  among 
successful  exploiters  of  domestic  melodrama,  and  it  separates 
her  didactic  sensationalism  from  the  more  politely  imaginative 
world  of  her  "  female  "  contemporaries. 

Similar  in  its  moral  aim  to  The  Power  of  Sympathy  and 
Charlotte  Temple,  Mrs.  Hannah  Webster  Foster's2  The 
Coquette  (1797)  has  neither  the  extreme  sentimentality  of 
Mrs.  Morton  nor  the  sensationalism  of  Mrs.  Rowson.  Like 
Charlotte  it  is  founded  on  fact,  on  the  unfortunate  story  of  a 

1  In  Reuben  and  Rachel  (1798)   Mrs.  Rowson  shows  the  more  romantic 
influence   of  the  increasing  school   of  historical  fiction.     The   tale,   which 
seems  to  have  been  educational  in  intention,  begins  in  the  time  of  Columbus. 
Subsequently  it  describes  the  marriage  of  his  granddaughter  to  a  son  of 
Lady  Jane  Grey,  and  of  their  son  to  an  Indian  princess,  and  of  their  son 
to  a  member  of  the  Penn  family. 

2  Hannah  Foster,   1759-1840,  was  the  wife  of  a  Massachusetts  minister, 
the  Rev.  John  Foster.     She  was  the  author  of  The  Boarding  School  (1796) 
and  Lessons  of  a  Preceptress  (1798). 


14 

connection  of  the  Foster  family.1  It  is  superior  to  its  pre 
decessors  in  interest  and  especially  in  character-drawing;  the 
personages  are  individuals  not  types,  speaking  well  in  char 
acter,  in  letters  as  vivacious  as  the  epistolary  conventions  of 
the  time  would  allow.  Some  development  can  be  traced  in 
the  character  of  the  heroine,  while  the  catastrophe  is  kept  well 
in  mind  from  the  first.  The  virtuous  hero  is  not  represented 
as  absolutely  impeccable — although  neither  the  heroine  nor  the 
author  quite  grasps  the  fact  that  he  is  an  estimable  prig — and 
the  villain  is  allowed  his  softer  side. 

Of  all  the  tales  of  these  women  novelists,  The  Coquette  re 
mains  the  most  readable,  and  preserves  a  faded  appeal  to  the 
sympathies  of  a  public  which  has  lost  its  taste  for  tragedy  in 
letters.  Early  in  the  nineteenth  century  The  Coquette's  popu 
larity  rivalled  that  of  Charlotte.  Many  editions  were  bought 
and  wept  over,2  and  a  reprint  was  made  as  late  as  1874. 

Another  example  of  the  elegantly  edifying  type  of  fiction 
is  Caroline  Matilda  Warren's  novel,  The  Gamesters;  'or,  Ruins 
of  Innocence  (1805).  Presented  to  the  public,  the  author 
says,  "  not  as  the  labored  production  of  erudition,  but  as  the 
efforts  of  a  mind  rather  of  a  contemplative  turn,  whose  prin 
cipal  amusement  is  derived  from  such  pursuits,"  it  is,  as  the 
title  indicates,  directed  against  the  evil  of  gambling.  In  addi 
tion  to  this  main  theme  it  points  many  other  morals,  and  con 
sequently  has  a  more  complicated  action  than  The  Power  of 
Sympathy  or  The  Coquette.  Mrs.  Warren  makes  some  parade 
of  her  acquaintance  with  "  polite  authors,"  among  whom  it  is 
a  pleasure  to  find  Shakespeare,  and  she  seems  to  have  had  a 
fondness  for  the  study  of  physiognomy  inspired  by  Lavater.  In 
a  suicide  scene  there  is  the  novelty  of  substituting  Addison's 
Cato  for  the  usual  Werther  opened  at  an  appropriate  passage. 
Another  innovation  is  the  introduction  of  Tom  Tarpaulin,  "  an 
honest  son  of  Neptune,"  and  his  sweetheart  Peggy.  Other 
wise  there  is  little  that  is  new  in  this  attempt  to  "  blend  instruc- 

1  The  story  is  told  at  length  in  Mrs.  C.  H.  Ball's  Romance  of  the  Asso 
ciation,  1875. 

2  The  thirtieth  appeared  in  Boston  in  1833.     Wegelin,  Early  American 
Fiction,  1902,  p.  14. 


15 

tion  with  amusement,  and  at  once  to  regale  the  imagination, 
and  reform  the  heart." 

More  didactic,  even  pedagogic  in  intention,  are  two  novels 
by  Helena  Wells,  whose  books  were  published  in  London.  On 
the  title  page  of  The  Stepmother?  the  author  is  described  as 
"of  Charlestown,  South  Carolina."  Both  The  Stepmother 
(1799)  and  Constantly  Neville,  or  the  West  Indian  (1800) 
went  into  second  editions  soon  after  their  publication.  Their 
aim,  as  stated  in  the  preface  to  The  Stepmother,  "  by  pointing 
out  the  superior  advantages  of  a  religious  education,  is  to 
counteract  the  pernicious  tendency  of  modern  philosophy,"  and 
to  check  the  prevailing  taste  for  "  the  marvellous  and  the 
terrible." 

In  a  somewhat  later  work  by  Rebecca  Rush,  Kelroy  (1812), 
the  didactic  novel,  while  retaining  its  moralizing  tone,  shows 
the  influence  of  the  novel  of  social  manners.  Kelroy  owes, 
perhaps,  to  its  later  date,  its  comparative  freedom  from  the 
na'ive  absurdities  of  many  of  its  predecessors.  Its  style  also, 
while  still  studied,  has  lost  the  excessive  "  elegance  "  of  diction 
characteristic  of  Mrs.  Morton's  time. 

One  can  hardly  leave  the  subject  of  sentimental  didacticism 
without  referring  to  the  Massachusetts  Magazine,  which  was  its 
shrine.  Here  the  gifted  ladies  of  Mrs.  Morton's  circle  were 
sure  of  a  welcome.  The  editor  sometimes  spoke  sharply,  in 
his  acknowledgments  to  patrons  and  correspondents,  of  con 
tributions  from  manly  hands ;  but  all  ladies  were  received  with 
a  sugared  politeness.  Mrs.  Morton,  under  her  poetical  name 
of  Philenia,  was  referred  to  as  "  the  Daughter  of  Genius — the 
Queen  of  elegance  in  thought  and  word  and  deed."  Another 
lady,  known  as  "  Sabina,"  had  contributed  the  history  of  a 
woman  carried  off  by  pirates  to  the  harem  of  a  Turkish  noble, 
where  her  instructions  led  to  the  liberation  of  all  the  slaves. 
In  recompense  she  received  this  editorial  tribute :  "  Sabina, 
authoress  of  Louisa,  an  interesting  novel,  is  sincerely  thanked 
for  a  momentary  renunciation  of  domestick  labours.  Her  sex, 
her  country,  and  mankind  at  large  have  reason  to  acknowledge 

1  The  Stepmother  was  favorably  reviewed  in  the  Gentleman's  Magazine 
for  July,  1800. 


16 

their  obligation  to  the  virtuous  fair,  who  divide  their  time  be 
tween  family  economy  and  the  dissemination  of  universal  in 
struction." 

Long  serial  stories,  except  for  occasional  translations,  are 
rare  in  periodicals  before  1800,  although  many  tales  run  through 
two  or  three  issues.  The  space  given  to  fiction,  which  in  the 
Massachusetts  Magazine  is  large,  is  occupied  by  various  fore 
runners  of  the  short  story,  the  character,  the  anecdote,  the 
apologue,  and  the  condensed  novel.  The  Oriental  tale  was  the 
most  favored  of  all  types,  and  no  issue  of  the  Massachusetts 
Magazine  was  complete  without  one ;  very  few,  however,  were 
of  American  origin.  In  original  work  this  magazine  made  a 
specialty  of  "  historiettes,"  tragic,  sentimental,  or  amusing. 
Pastorals  and  bits  of  prose  poetry  were  favorite  efforts  of  the 
fair  contributors,  perhaps  a  touching  scene  from  a  projected 
novel.  One  of  the  most  moving  of  these  pastoral  productions 
is  Fidele,  or  the  Faithful  Shepherd,  which  appeared  in  1791, 
signed  by  "  Caloc."  The  Shepherd  Fidele  loves  Zephyra ; 
Almira,  a  town  beauty,  sees  Fidele  and  falls  into  a  decline  for 
love  of  him.  Her  parents  send  for  the  shepherd,  but  he  is 
already  pledged  to  Zephyra.  "  His  sensibility  was  too  ex 
quisite.  The  news  of  Almira's  gradual  decline  preyed  heavily 
on  a  slender  constitution.  Zephyra  caught  the  weakening  con 
tagion,  and  three  celestial  spirits  languished  into  life  together." 
The  mistress  of  this  branch  of  poetic  prose  was  "  Lavinia." 
Other  contributors  were  Laurinda,  Alouette,  Menander,  Evan- 
der,  and  Lindor. 

So  much  of  this  magazine  work  is  left  unsigned,  so  little 
scruple  is  felt  at  borrowing  from  foreign  sources,  or  from  one 
American  magazine  to  another,  that  a  formidable  tangle  of 
possible  authorships  awaits  any  venturesome  person  who  may 
undertake  to  investigate  the  early  American  short  story,  or  its 
forerunners.  Although  the  Massachusetts  Magazine  virtuously 
declared  that  "  all  pieces  which  have  been  published  in  any 
other  vehicle  than  the  Massachusetts  Magazine  we  deem 
antique  composition,"  others  did  not  share  its  fastidiousness; 
indeed  the  New  York  Magazine  seems  to  have  used  its  New 
England  contemporary  as  a  regular  source  of  supply,  and  even 


UNiVER, 

OF 


17 

paid  it  the  compliment  of  reprinting  one  story  twice  under  dif 
ferent  titles. 

While  the  didactic  sentimentality  of  Mrs.  Morton,  Mrs. 
Foster,  and  other  Massachusetts  ladies  is  the  most  striking 
feature  of  early  American  novel  writing,  other  types,  both  of 
didacticism  and  of  sentimentality,  are  to  be  found  among  the 
novelists  of  the  day.  The  educational,  the  religious,  and  the 
satirical  varieties  of  didacticism  all  are  present.  Consideration 
of  these,  however,  may  be  postponed  to  that  of  the  other  variety 
of  novel  popular  among  the  women  writers  of  the  last  decade 
of  the  eighteenth  century  and  the  first  of  the  nineteenth  —  the 
tale  similar  in  quality  of  sentiment  to  those  already  discussed, 
but  romantic  where  they  are  didactic,  and  aiming  to  amuse 
rather  than  to  instruct. 

This  more  romantic  and  less  deliberately  edifying  type  of 
female  fiction1  is  well  represented  by  The  Hapless  Orphan,  or 
Innocent  Victim  of  Revenge,  "  By  an  American  lady  "  (1793). 
The  orphan  is  a  lovely  and  defenceless  creature,  afflicted 
with  a  hard-hearted  relative,  —  a  situation  popular  in  the  fic 
tion  of  the  time.  This  relative,  an  aunt,  although  "  for  her 
own  child  all  the  feelings  of  a  parental  bosom  vegetated  in 
luxuriance,"  is  so  unkind  to  the  niece  that  the  unfortunate 
Caroline  is  forced  to  seek  another  home.  Hence  arise 
all  her  difficulties,  for  at  Princeton,  whither  she  has  fled, 
she  falls  in  love  with  the  miniature  of  a  charming  youth 
already  betrothed  to  another,  the  jealous  Eliza.  At  the 
tender  moment  when  the  youth,  on  his  knee,  is  presenting  to 
Caroline  a  locket  adorned  with  a  figure  of  Hope,  and  two  doves 
drinking  from  a  fountain,  elegantly  done  in  hair-work,  which, 
he  assures  her,  is  his  own  "  performance,"  the  lovers  are  dis 
covered  by  Eliza.  After  the  suicide  of  the  too  attractive  youth 

1  Among  the  tales  of  this  type  may  be  mentioned  :  Cynthia,  with  the 
tragical  account  of  the  unfortunate  loves  of  Almerin  and  Desdemona, 
Northampton,  Mass.,  1798;  The  Fortunate  Discovery,  or  the  History  of 
Henry  Villars,  New  York,  1798;  Mor  eland  Vale,  or  the  Fair  Fugitive,  New 
York,  1801  ;  Monima,  or  the  Beggar  Girl,  Philadelphia,  1803  ;  Margaretta, 
Philadelphia,  1807.  In  a  review  in  the  Massachusetts  Magazine,  1792,  Vol. 
IV,  p.  367,  The  Hapless  Orphan  is  severely  criticised,  apparently  for  its 
lack  of  edifying  tendency,  and  because  the  foibles  of  the  aunt  are  "  rather 
sneered  at  by  stoical  r.pathy  than  consoled  in  the  language  of  sensibility." 


18 

the  frantic  Eliza  vows  vengeance.  Thenceforth  Caroline  is 
hounded  by  every  conceivable  persecution, — pursuit  by  masked 
villains,  by  men  in  women's  garments,  slander,  purloining  of 
letters,  attempted  abduction,  and  more  elaborate  machinations 
affecting  even  the  happiness  of  her  friends,  and  successfully 
poisoning  against  her  the  mind  of  her  betrothed  who  is  at  a 
distance  fighting  Indians. 

The  unreality  of  the  tale  is  heightened  by  the  absurd  juxta 
position  of  blood-curdling  plots,  harrowing  escapes,  and  prim 
discourses  full  of  the  self-centered,  calculating  common-sense 
which  makes  Caroline  a  true  child  of  her  century.  "  I  had 
long  established  it  a  maxim  of  prudence  and  a  dictate  of  rea 
son,"  she  says,  "  to  make  as  easy  as  possible  the  various  inci 
dents  which  occur  in  this  journey  of  life."  Even  when  most 
occupied  in  foiling  villains,  she  finds  leisure  for  discourses  on 
the  necessity  of  education,  and  gentle  Pamela-like  moralizings, 
"Death,  my  dear  Maria,  is  a  serious  event."  The  course  of 
the  narrative  is  impeded  by  her  pauses  to  retail  the  private 
history  of  everyone  she  meets, — the  young  lady  whose  mind 
has  been  poisoned  by  too  much  novel-reading,  the  young  man 
who  is  led  by  The  Sorrows  of  Werther  to  shoot  his  disdainful 
fair  one  and  then  himself,  the  irate  father  who  slays  the  brutal 
husband  of  his  daughter  and  then  falls  into  fits. 

Caroline,  herself,  is  not  without  sensibility, — "  frequently," 
she  tells  us,  "  doth  the  great  drop  burst  from  my  eye."  She 
invariably  retains  her  composure,  however,  even  when  her 
betrothed  is  killed  in  battle.  Indeed,  she  soon  begins  to  cast 
an  eye  of  favor  on  an  another  suitor,  Mr.  Helen,  but  remarks, 
with  her  usual  propriety,  "  great  as  my  present  partialities  are, 
I  should  be  disgusted  with  an  immediate  declaration  of  his 
attachment."  Her  arrangement  to  give  funereal  honors  to  the 
memory  of  her  betrothed  may  serve  as  a  sample  of  the  "  ele 
gance  "  of  the  author's  imagination : 

"As  a  memento  of  my  uniform  attachment,  I  will  cause  a 
monument  to  be  raised,  on  the  base  of  which  shall  be  repre 
sented,  upon  one  side  an  urn  which  shall  be  supposed  to  con 
tain  the  ashes  of  my  friend,  over  which  two  cupids  shall  hold 
a  cypress  wreath;  under  the  urn  shall  be  displayed  the  fatal 


19 

trophies  of  war,  while  the  figure  of  a  female  shall  be  seated 
under  the  friendly  shade  of  a  weeping  willow,  in  a  melancholy 
attitude,  pointing  to  a  number  of  angels  that  will  be  seen  above. 
The  urn  shall  be  inscribed  to  friendship,  bravery,  and  virtue. 
Upon  the  opposite  side  of  the  base  an  urn  shall  represent  the 
sacred  remains  of  my  dear  Lucretia,  while  a  figure,  whose  eyes 
shall  emit  an  insatiable  revenge,  shall  hold  in  her  hand  a  dart, 
which  she  is  aiming  at  the  bosom  of  a  female  who  stands  weep 
ing  over  the  ashes  of  her  friend.  At  one  end  shall  be  en 
graved  in  capitals,  'SUPPRESS  EVERY  MOTIVE  OF 
REVENGE!  "  After  this  tribute  to  the  departed  she  accepts 
Mr.  Helen. 

At  length  the  malevolent  Eliza  triumphs.  Caroline  is  car 
ried  off  by  villains  in  Eliza's  pay,  and  the  devoted  Helen, 
flying  in  pursuit,  only  arrives  in  time  to  save  her  body  from 
a  company  of  medical  students.  Nothing  happens  to  Eliza. 

Although  the  principle  of  poetic  justice  is  violated  in  The 
Hapless  Orphan,  it  usually  governs  the  denouements  of  tales 
of  this  class;  the  rejected  lovers  of  the  heroine  console  them 
selves  with  young  ladies  who  have  sighed  in  vain  for  the  hero, 
and  long-lost  uncles  reappear  from  strange  lands,  in  time  to 
endow  all  the  principals  with  "  handsome  "  fortunes,  and  the 
faithful  attendants  with  "genteel"  annuities.  On  the  title 
page  a  "  Lady  of  Quality  "  and  the  like  have  been  replaced  by 
"  A  Lady  of  Worcester  County,"  "  A  Young  Lady  of  the  State 
of  New  York,"  or  "A  Lady  of  Philadelphia."  In  the  tale 
itself  nothing  but  the  geographical  situation  is  changed;  the 
atmosphere  is  unreal,  the  lady  is  unfortunate,  the  hero  is  of  a 
wax-work  perfection,  the  villain  is  of  a  mechanical  iniquity, 
just  as  in  the  numberless  similar  British  romances. 

The  trials  of  this  engaging  type  of  heroine  did  not  meet 
with  universal  compassion.  In  her  Female  Quixotism  exhib 
ited  in  the  Romantic  Opinions  and  Extravagant  Adventures  of 
Dorcasina  Sheldon  (1808),  Mrs.  Tabitha  Tenney  ridiculed  the 
effect  of  such  romantic  tales  on  the  mind  of  a  country  girl,  ^ 
much  as  Mrs.  Lennox,  fifty  years  before,  had  satirized,  in  her 
Female  Quixote,  the  influence  of  the  heroic  romances  of 


20 

the  Clelie  and  Cleopdtre  type.  Mrs.  Tenney's1  heroine,  who 
changes  her  homely  appellation  of  Dorcas  to  Dorcasina,  has 
been  led  to  see  a  disguised  hero  in  every  horseboy,  and  a  ro 
mance  in  every  chance  acquaintance.  The  story  of  her  many 
disappointments  and  absurd  mishaps,  as  a  result  of  the  cre 
dulity  which  makes  her  an  ever  ready  dupe,  is  told  with  some 
humor ;  but  the  humor  too  often  has  the  roughness  and  cruelty 
which  in  many  of  Smollett's  practical  jokes  turns  the  reader's 
sympathies  to  the  victim  rather  than  to  the  perpetrator.  In 
deed,  the  chief  distinction  between  Mrs.  Lennox's  satire  and 
that  of  Mrs.  Tenney  is  that  one  lived  before,  and  the  other 
after,  Smollett. 

Leaving  this  second  type  of  feminine  achievement,  and  turn 
ing  to  other  varieties  of  didacticism,  one  finds  first,  in  point  of 
time,  the  educational  tale  represented  by  The  Memoirs  of  the 
Bloomsgrove  Family  by  the  Reverend  Enos  Hitchcock,  D.D.2 
(1790).  This  learned  author,  after  serving  through  the  Revo 
lutionary  War  as  a  chaplain,  had  acquired  fame  as  a  preacher. 
His  purpose  in  novel  writing  was  not  only  didactic  but  pa 
triotic;  to  furnish  a  system  of  education  suited  to  American 
conditions  was  his  design.  This  is  accomplished  in  a  series  of 
letters  describing  the  training  of  the  youthful  Osander  and 
Rozella  Bloomsgrove  under  the  supervision  of  their  humane 
and  enlightened  parents.  Incidentally,  the  views  on  education 
of  Rousseau,  Locke,  Lord  Kaimes,  Mrs.  Chapone,  and  Mme. 
de  Genlis  are  weighed  and  sifted.  The  educational  effect  of 
dressing  dolls  is  solemnly  discussed — for  the  author  was  con 
vinced  that  "  females  should  inure  themselves  to  the  exercise 
of  thinking."3  His  acquaintance  with  eighteenth  century  fads 
appears  in  the  little  didactic  Oriental  tales  which  occasionally 

1Tabitha  Tenney  was  born  in  Exeter,  N.  H.,  in  1762.  In  1788  she  mar 
ried  Samuel  Tenney  who  in  1800  became  a  member  of  Congress.  She 
died  in  Exeter  in  1837. 

3  The  Rev.  Enos  Hitchcock  was  born  in  Springfield,  Mass.,  in  1744,  and 
died  in  Providence,  R.  I.,  in  1803.  He  was  graduated  from  Harvard  in 
1767,  and  became  a  chaplain  in  the  Revolutionary  army  in  1780.  He  pub 
lished,  beside  his  novels,  a  Treatise  on  Education,  Boston,  1790,  and  Cate 
chetical  Instructions  and  Forms  of  Devotion  for  Children  and  Youth,  1788. 

3  A  different  view  was  taken  by  the  writer  who,  in  1792,  contributed  to 
the  American  Museum,  Vol.  XI,  lines  addressed  to  a  lady  who  had  desired 


21 

point  his  morals,  and  in  the  enthusiasm  for  landscape  garden 
ing  shown  in  his  descriptions  of  the  Bloomsgrove  domain,  with 
its  lawn,  and  summer-house,  and  paths  running  in  a  "ver 
micular  direction."  Of  his  style  an  example  is  furnished  by 
his  paraphrase  of  the  speech  of  the  Mother  of  the  Gracchi, 
which  he  expands  to  a  more  elegant  form.  "  These,  my  good 
friends,"  Cornelia  says,  "  are  my  ornaments  and  all  that  I  have 
of  a  toilet." 

In  1793  Hitchcock  published  a  work  of  a  like  improving 
tendency,  The  Farmer's  Friend,  or  the  History  of  Mr.  Charles 
Worthy,  designed  to  show  the  progressive  steps  by  which  an 
individual  can  rise  by  his  own  struggles. 

Similarly  edifying  in  purpose  is  The  Art  of  Courting,  which 
shows  characteristics  both  of  the  educational  and  of  the  re 
ligious  tale,  but  differs  from  both  in  its  avowed  intention  to 
"  impress  the  minds  of  young  people  with  a  lively  sense  of 
the  love  and  favor  of  heaven  in  granting  to  the  human  race 
the  institution  of  marriage,  which  is  so  admirably  calculated 
to  promote  their  improvement,  pleasure,  and  happiness." 
"  The  delightful  business  of  courting "  is  the  theme  of  the 
work,  and  is  illustrated,  the  author  says,  by  "  several  instances 
of  courtship  not  unworthy  of  the  imitation  of  the  American 
youth."1 

Seven  typical  courtships  are  followed  out  in  detail  by  means 
of  the  letters  of  the  lovers  and  an  explanatory  narrative  by  the 
author.  These  include  a  didactic  courtship,  a  religious  court 
ship,  the  courtship  of  an  old  maid  and  an  old  bachelor,  of  a 
widower  and  a  widow,  of  an  old  man  and  a  young  girl,  the 
courtship  of  Braggadocius  and  Numskuldia,  inserted  not  for 
example  but  for  warning,  and  finally,  as  a  crowning  triumph, 

the  establishment  of  a  university  for  women.  Of  the  blighting  effect  of 
science  he  says : 

"At  her  approach  the  roses  fade, 
Each  charm  forsakes  the  astonished  maid ; 
And  o'er  her  cheek  of  sickly  pale, 
Thought   slowly   draws   its   loathsome   veil." 

1  Of  this  work  the  Massachusetts  Magazine  remarks,  1796  (Vol.  VIII, 
p.  68),  "  Here  is  nothing  of  the  delicate  demeanor  and  gentle  affection,  none 
of  the  tender  sensibilities  or  winning  attention,  and  little  of  the  modest 
innocence  or  chaste  reservedness  which  bespeak  a  refined  attachment." 


22 

the  conversion,  through  love,  of  Damon,  who  had  been  a  charm 
ing  youth  but  a  "  finished  deist." 

The  narrative  is  enlivened  by  the  insertion  of  verses,  the 
composition  of  various  lovers.  Of  them  all  the  following 
tribute  from  Oliva  to  Emilius  is  perhaps  the  most  touching : 

"  The  beauties  of  the  blooming  spring, 
Fresh  to  my  mind  Emilius  bring, 
The  flowers  which  give  a  fragrant  smell, 
Do  emulate  his  virtues  well." 

The  inspiration,  if  so  it  may  be  called,  to  this  undertaking 
probably  came  from  Defoe's  popular  work  on  Religious  Court 
ship,  but  there  is  a  great  difference  not  only  in  form,  the  sub 
stitution  of  letters  for  dialogues,  but  in  feeling  and  style,  both 
of  which  have  the  sentimentality  and  fondness  for  ornament  of 
contemporary  fiction,  rather  than  the  precision  and  matter  of 
fact  qualities  of  Defoe.  Any  connection  there  may  be  between 
The  Art  of  Courting  and  the  Religious  Courtship  is  one  of 
suggestion  rather  than  of  close  imitation. 

In  addition  to  the  educational  and  the  religious,  the  satirical 
form  of  didacticism,  which  gave  rise  to  the  large  family  of 
eighteenth  century  Quixotes,  is  represented  in  America  by 
Hugh  Henry  Brackenridge's1  Modern  Chivalry:  containing  the 
Adventures  of  Captain  John  Farrago  and  Teague  0'  Regan  his 
Servant.  This  story,  which  displays  more  ability  than  any 
other  American  tales  before  those  of  Charles  Brock  den  Brown, 
describes  the  travels  of  a  thoughtful  man  whose  ideas  of  life 
have  been  derived  entirely  from  books.  He  is  accompanied  by 

1  Hugh  Henry  Brackenridge  was  born  in  1748,  in  Scotland,  but  came  to 
America  when  five  years  old.  His  boyhood  was  spent  on  a  farm  in  York 
County,  Pa.,  where  he  managed  to  obtain  an  education.  By  teaching  school 
he  earned  the  money  necessary  for  study  at  Princeton,  and  was  graduated 
in  1771  with  James  Madison  and  Philip  Freneau.  He  continued  at  the 
college  as  a  tutor,  studied  divinity,  and  later  taught  in  an  academy  in  Mary 
land  where  he  composed  a  dramatic  poem,  Bunker's  Hill,  recited  by  his 
pupils,  and  published  in  1776.  He  became  editor  of  the  United  States 
Magazine  in  1776.  After  serving  as  chaplain  in  the  war,  he  studied  law 
at  Annapolis.  In  1781  he  moved  to  Pittsburg,  and  later  became  a  mem 
ber  of  the  Legislature.  He  was  much  interested  in  the  Whiskey  Rebellion 
and  in  1795  published  Incidents  of  the  Insurrection  in  the  Western  Part 
of  Pennsylvania  in  1794.  In  1799  he  was  made  judge  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  Pennsylvania.  He  died  in  1816. 


23 

an  ignorant  Irish  servant,  half-fool,  half-knave,  who  by  con 
stantly  getting  into  difficulties  affords  a  text  for  satirical 
moralizings  by  his  master. 

In  the  earlier  portions  the  satirical  note  is  more  sustained,  and 
the  adventures  follow  a  fixed  plan.  At  each  stage  of  their  jour 
ney  the  Captain  and  his  servant  fall  in  with  some  foolish  assem 
blage,  now  of  scientists  seeking  recruits  for  their  society,  now 
of  citizens  about  to  elect  a  representative,  and  the  like.  Each 
foolish  group  finds  something  to  admire  in  the  foolish  and  vain 
Teague  O'Regan,  and  offers  him  membership  or  office.  To 
prevent  his  acceptance  the  Captain  is  obliged  to  invent  ridic 
ulous  objections,  and  then  follows  a  chapter  of  reflections  by 
the  author,  suggested  by  the  previous  adventure.  This  order, 
however,  is  gradually  abandoned  toward  the  end  of  the  first 
part  of  the  story,  and  is  not  resumed  in  the  second.  After  a 
visit  to  Philadelphia,  where  Teague  is  a  social  success  and  an 
idol  of  young  ladies,  he  has  an  interview  with  the  President, 
and  is  led  to  expect  political  preferment.  At  last  he  obtains  the 
office  of  exciseman.  In  that  capacity  he  becomes  involved  in 
the  Whiskey  Rebellion,  is  tarred  and  feathered  by  indignant 
citizens,  captured  by  a  scientific  society,  caged  as  a  strange  ani 
mal,  and  finally  sent  to  France  where,  in  the  character  of  an 
Esquimau,  he  figures  in  the  train  of  Anacharsis  Cloots. 

The  second  part  of  the  story,  added  later,  is  devoted  to  the 
description  of  a  new  settlement  founded  by  the  Captain  and  his 
friends,  the  governmental  problems  which  arise  being  mere  pre 
texts  for  long  chapters  setting  forth  Brackenridge's  political 
beliefs.  The  relief  given  by  comic  adventure  and  satiric  reflec 
tion  to  the  educational  intention  of  the  first  part  is  often  lacking 
here,  and  there  is  no  real  plot. 

At  his  best  Brackenridge  shows  great  satiric  power,  and  a 
vigor  and  clearness  of  style  unusual  in  that  day  of  somewhat 
tawdry  elegance  in  fiction.  Although  he  took  the  form  of  his 
narrative  from  Cervantes,  he  is  nearer  Butler  in  spirit.  Indeed 
it  was  his  original  intention  to  put  his  story  into  Butler's 
jolting  couplets,  and  a  beginning  was  actually  made,  but  he 
finally  abandoned  the  idea  and  adopted  the  prose  form  for  his 
narrative. 


24 

Another  popular  genre  in  the  British  fiction  of  the  day, 
allied  with  the  romantic  rather  than  the  didactic  novel,  was  the 
tale  of  adventurous  travel,  whose  rise  is  due  partly  to  the 
influence  of  Smollett,  partly  to  that  of  the  books  of  travel  and 
description  which  were  being  produced  in  considerable  quantity. 
This  type  is  early  represented  in  America  by  two  novels,  both 
of  which  appeared  in  1797,  and  both  of  which  deal  in  part 
with  the  Algerine  pirates,  then  a  serious  menace  to  commerce, 
as  well  as  a  picturesque  peril  appealing  to  many  purveyors  of 
light  literature.  Although,  in  so  far  as  they  possess  the  ele 
ments  of  action  and  enterprise,  these  two  tales  have  a  relation 
ship  with  the  adventure  novels  to  be  discussed  in  a  later 
chapter,  they  have  elements,  one  of  the  sentimental,  the  other 
of  the  didactic  type,  sufficient  to  give  them  a  place  here. 
Similar  as  are  their  subjects,  the  two  authors  employ  quite 
opposite  methods  of  treatment;  one  follows  the  traditional 
romance  of  high-born  captives  and  gory-minded  captors,  while 
the  other  attempts  an  iconoclastic  realism. 

Fortune's  Football,  or,  the  Adventures  of  Mercutio  possesses 
all  the  hairbreadth  escapes,  the  rapid  succession  of  improbable 
situations,  familiar  in  the  modern  novel  of  this  type,  but  differs 
from  it  in  the  share  in  the  conduct  of  affairs  assigned  to  the 
hero.  As  the  title  implies,  Mercutio  is  the  sport  of  fortune, 
not  its  master.  Things  happen  to  him;  he  does  not  make 
them  happen  to  other  people.  Even  the  passion  of  love,  which 
nerves  the  modern  hero  to  many  interesting  impossibilities, 
has  no  such  stimulating  effect  on  Mercutio.  As  each  object 
of  his  affections  is  snatched  from  him  by  death,  he  sheds  a  few 
tears,  and  replaces  her  by  another  even  more  desirable.  Of 
him,  far  more  truly  than  of  Sir  Charles  Grandison,  may  it  be 
said,  "  all  the  world  is  his  Emily."  Of  perils  by  land  and 
sea  he  has  an  endless  series,  once,  indeed,  owing  his  preserva 
tion  to  the  humble  agency  of  a  friendly  hen-coop.  On  an 
other  occasion  his  ship  remains  stuck  between  two  rocks  in 
mid-sea  for  five  days,  to  the  great  annoyance  of  the  passengers. 
In  Venice  he  elopes  with  the  Doge's  daughter  and  an  ebony 
box  crammed  full  of  ducats,  while  his  final  exploit  is  the 
conversion  of  the  Sophi  of  Persia  to  monogamy  and  English 


25 

cavalry  tactics.  The  progress  of  the  story  is  constantly  inter 
rupted  by  Mercutio's  reunions  with  various  long-lost  friends, 
including  an  earl  and  a  retired  highwayman.  The  main  nar 
rative  is  abandoned  while  each  friend  recounts  the  tale  of  his 
adventures  during  his  separation  from  the  hero,  thus  causing 
a  dislocation  of  the  course  of  events.  Mercutio's  captivity 
among  the  pirates,  although  short,  is  as  harrowing  as  his  other 
experiences ;  he  is  chained  to  an  oar  and  forced  to  row  night 
and  day.  Among  his  fellow  prisoners  he  finds  equals  and 
friends  whose  plight,  like  his  own,  is  viewed  as  a  romantic 
hardship. 

In  The  Algerine  Captive,  on  the  other  hand,  Royall  Tyler  has 
a  more  didactic  purpose.  After  devoting  the  first  part  of  his 
book  to  a  satirical  account  of  New  England  customs,  he  gives 
a  serious  picture  of  the  terrors  of  a  slave-ship.  Finally,  when 
he  brings  his  hero  to  Algiers,  he  ridicules  the  romantic  ideas 
of  Algerian  slavery  generally  derived  from  books,  and  gravely 
applies  himself  to  a  somewhat  tedious  account  of  actual  con-  / 
ditions.  "  I  am  loath,"  he  says,  "  to  destroy  the  innocent 
gratifications  which  the  readers  of  novels  or  plays  derive  from 
the  works  of  a  Behn  and  a  Colman ;  but  the  sober  character 
of  the  historian  compels  me  to  assure  my  readers  that,  what 
ever  may  have  happened  in  the  sixteenth  century,  I  never  saw 
during  my  captivity  a  man  of  any  rank,  family,  or  fortune 
among  the  menial  slaves."  Tyler's  style  was  clear  and  correct, 
without  ornamentation  or  artificiality,  very  well  fitted  for  story 
telling.  Unfortunately,  however,  a  flood  of  information  sub 
merged  whatever  story  he  may  have  meant  to  tell. 

Not  one  of  these  early  novels,  with  the  possible  exception 

1  Royall  Tyler  was  born  in  Boston  in  1756,  was  of  the  class  of  1776  at 
Harvard,  and  studied  law  with  John  Adams.  He  served  for  some  time  in 
the  army.  His  comedy,  The  Contrast,  was  acted  in  1786.  The  next  year 
he  produced  May  Day,  or  New  York  in  an  Uproar.  To  the  Farmer's 
Weekly  Museum,  and  other  papers,  he  contributed  numerous  productions 
"  from  the  shop  of  Messrs.  Colon  and  Spondee,"  and  to  the  Port  Folio, 
in  1 80 1,  a  series  of  An  Author's  Evenings.  In  the  same  year  some  of 
his  Farmer's  Museum  papers  were  collected  and  published.  He  composed 
much  occasional  verse,  and  contributed  to  various  periodicals,  including  the 
New  England  Galaxy.  In  1800  he  was  made  Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  Vermont,  and  held  the  office  for  several  years.  He  died  in  1812. 


26 

of  Modern  Chivalry,  whether  intended  for  edification  or  for 
amusement,  can  claim  any  enduring  literary  merit,  or  any  real 
originality.  All  belong  to  types  common  in  contemporary 
British  fiction,  and  many  of  them  seem  to  be  put  forward  in  a 
tentative  and  apologetic  spirit.  This  very  amateurishness 
gives  many  of  them  a  naively  amusing  quality,  and  seems  to 
have  been  a  source  of  innocent  pride  to  some  of  the  compatriots 
of  their  authors.  At  a  time  when  American  fiction  was  for  a 
few  years,  at  least,  represented  by  a  professional  man  of  letters, 
Charles  Brockden  Brown,  we  find  a  plea  for  the  amateur 
prefixed  by  Mrs.  Wood's  Baltimore  publisher  to  her  Ferdinand 
and  Elmira  (1804).  The  "advertisement"  to  the  work  an 
nounces  that  "  the  writer  of  this  instructive  and  amusing  work 
has  heretofore  published  the  effusions  of  her  Pen  in  New 
England;  and  there,  where  the  flights  of  fancy  (as  if  chilled 
by  the  frigid  blasts  of  the  north)  are  not  received  with  that 
friendly  welcome  which  they  receive  in  the  south  and  middle 
states,  commanded  that  applause  which  Genius  and  fancy  never 
fail  of  producing  on  those  liberal  and  candid  minds  who  will 
take  the  trouble  to  discriminate  between  the  ordinary  day- 
labor  of  the  common  English  novelist,  who  works  for  a  living, 
similar  to  a  mechanic,  and  has  no  other  end  in  view  than  to 
bring  forth  a  fashionable  piece  of  Goods,  that  will  suit  the 
taste  of  the  moment  and  remunerate  himself,  and  the  Lady  of 
refined  sentiments  and  correct  taste,  who  writes  for  the  amuse 
ment  of  herself,  her  friends,  and  the  public." 

The  zeal  for  novel  reading  which  underlay  this  zeal  for 
novel-writing  appears  in  the  number  of  small  towns  or  cities 
in  which  the  earliest  American  novels  were  published.  Before 
1800  novels  of  native  authorship  had  been  printed  in  New- 
buryport,  Northampton,  Leominster,  Hallowell,  Dedham, 
Walpole,  and  Portsmouth.  In  other  towns  the  most  popular 
British  novels  were  reprinted,  and  many,  of  course,  were  im 
ported  directly.  While  the  American  tales  were  usually  kept 
at  a  medium  price,  the  British  varied  greatly  in  cost,  so  that 
no  thirst  for  fiction  need  have  remained  ungratified.  The  ex 
travagant  could  obtain  The  Beggar  Girl  and  her  Benefactors 
for  three  dollars ;  the  frugal  might  console  themselves  with  The 


27 

Man  of  Real  Sensibility  for  thirty-seven  and  a  half  cents. 
Although  this  eager  consumption  of  British  fiction  was  depre 
cated  by  the  patriotic  American  novelist,  it  must  have  sug 
gested  alluring  possibilities  of  success. 

Any  attempt  to  sum  up  the  importance  of  these  early  exer 
cises  in  the  didactic  and  the  sentimental  must  give  results 
chiefly  negative.  What  their  direct  moral  influence  was,  can 
not  be  ascertained.  vlt  is  certain,  however,  that  they  did  not 
supplant  British  fiction  in  the  affections  of  the  reading  pub 
lic.  Nor  did  they  give  any  adequate  expression  to  American 
life  and  ideals.  Again  they  cannot  be  said  to  have  great 
importance  as  evidence  of  an  incipient  literary  culture.  That 
culture  was  already  showing  itself  in  the  cultivation  of 
other  literary  forms.  And  although  the  authors  of  didactic 
fiction  were  often  connected  with  self-conscious  literary  groups, 
they  did  not  approach  the  novel  from  the  point  of  view  of  art. 
The  function  of  the  novel,  in  their  estimation,  was  almost  en 
tirely  utilitarian.  It  is  a  significant  fact  that  nearly  all  the 
directly  didactic  novels  are  by  known  writers — writers  of 
literary  or  educational  importance  in  their  day — while,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  stories  designed  chiefly  for  amusement,  but 
related  to  their  didactic  contemporaries  by  similarity  of  senti 
ment  and  manner,  are  almost  invariably  by  unknown  authors. 
Apparently  a  novelist  without  a  definite  lesson  to  impart  did 
not  venture  to  appear  in  person  before  the  public.  The  atti 
tude  of  even  the  most  edifying  story  tellers  is  apologetic.  Such 
an  attitude  toward  novel  writing  was  not  likely  to  bring  about 
a  search  for  new  material  in  actual  human  experience  or  a 
more  artistic  handling  of  the  well  worn  themes  already  in  use. 

These  early  novelists,  in  spite  of  their  common  aims,  repre 
sent  no  concerted  movement ;  they  do  not  even  form  a  group 
possessing  any  real  unity.  They  discovered  no  new  or  char 
acteristic  type  of  novel,  but  sought  their  models  in  the  very 
British  fiction  whose  influence  they  were  trying  to  destroy. 
Unfortunately,  they  followed  the  methods  of  British  fiction 
in  its  most  uninspired  and  uninspiring  period.  From  these 
British  models  they  derived  the  didacticism  which  is  the  guid 
ing  spirit  of  the  novels  brought  together  in  this  chapter.  But 


28 

many  of  these  novels  show  also  the  influence  of  other  aspects 
of  contemporary  thought.  Consequently,  although  it  is  con 
venient  to  consider  them  in  one  large  group  characterized  by 
this  didactic  and  sentimental  spirit,  it  would  be  possible,  with 
equal  consistency,  to  divide  them  into  a  number  of  small 
groups,  several  of  which  would  consist  of  one  novel  each. 

Yet  inconsiderable  as  was  their  accomplishment  from  the 
point  of  view  of  literary  merit  they  have  a  certain  interest  as 
documents  in  the  history  of  taste.  For  their  authors,  and  pre 
sumably  their  readers,  were  of  the  cultivated  class,  of  the  class 
which  would  consciously  seek  what  it  supposed  to  be  the  best. 
More  than  this,  it  should  be  remembered  that  to  introduce 
novel  writing  to  America  at  all  was  an  achievement  of  real 
importance.  Although  the  Gothic  novel,  the  historical 
romance,  and  other  newer  forms  of  fiction  followed  in  a  very 
few  years,  the  honor  of  leading  the  way  in  the  new  field  be 
longs  to  the  already  old  fashioned  novel  of  the  didactic 
Richardsonian  tradition. 


CHAPTER   II 
THE  GOTHIC  AND  THE  REVOLUTIONARY 

THE  period  of  amiable  amateurishness  with  which  American 
fiction  began,  was  followed  by  the  popularity  of  the  first  really 
gifted  American  novel-writer,  the  first  also  whose  name  has 
won  the  adornment  of  tags  in  the  handbooks  of  literary  history 
— Charles  Brockden  Brown,  variously  known  as  "  The  First 
American  Novelist,"  "  The  Father  of  American  Fiction,"  "  The 
First  American  Man  of  Letters."  Brown's  novels,  however, 
are  separated  from  those  of  his  predecessors  less  by  profes 
sional  handling  or  technical  skill  than  by  the  new  ideals  of 
literature  and  life  which  they  represent.  In  England,  as  in 
America,  sentimental  and  didactic  fiction  was  still  produced  in 
quantity,  but  the  fashion  of  the  hour  at  which  Brown  wrote 
was  the  Gothic. 

Although  the  history  of  the  Gothic  novel  goes  back  to  1764, 
when  Horace  Walpole  had  a  bad  dream  and  wrote  The  Castle 
of  Otranto,  the  possibilities  of  the  new  type  were  not  appre 
ciated  until  the  growing  spirit  of  romanticism  found  itself  in 
serious  sympathy  with  the  mediaeval  machinery  and  super 
natural  terrors  which  Walpole  may  have  invented  partly  in 
a  spirit  of  flippancy.  The  triumphant  vogue  of  the  Gothic 
novel  is  the  peculiar  glory  of .  Mrs.  Anne  Radcliffe  whose 
Castles  of  Athlin  and  Dunbayne,  published  in  1789,  was  fol- 
lowed  by  A  Sicilian  Romance  (1790),  The  Romance  of  the 
Forest  (1791),  The  Mysteries  of  Udolpho  (1794),  The. 
Italian  (1797).  Her  thrilling  tales  found  so  many  imitators 
that  after  1790  the  Gothic  novel  may  fairly  be  said  to  have 
reigned  in  English  fiction.  Owls  hooted ;  trap-doors  yawned ; 
ghosts  in  armour  walked  the  floor  with  a  spectral  clank; 
damsels  swooned  on  secret  staircases ;  balls  of  fire  rolled 
around  the  best  regulated  houses ;  mysterious  figures  in  inky 
cloaks  waited  at  dark  corners  to  pluck  impetuous  heroes  by 

29 


30 

the  sleeve  and  bid  them  "beware";  she  was  but  a  poor  and 
old-fashioned  heroine  who  had  not  been  kidnapped  to  a  mys 
terious  castle,  forced  by  a  heartless  parent  to  dwell  in  a  ruined 
abbey,  or,  at  the  least,  immured  in  a  remote  convent. 

During  this  period,  however,  the  Gothic  romance  took  so 
many  forms  that  the  precise  application  of  the  descriptive 
adjective  is  not  always  apparent.  The  essence  of  the 
"  Gothic  "  may  be  said  to  consist,  if  one  may  parody  a  well- 
worn  phrase,  in  the  addition  of  strangeness  to  terror.  The 
variations  of  this  type  fall,  with  more  or  less  coercion,  into 
three  groups:  the  supernatural  Gothic  of  Walpole  and  Lewis, 
the  mechanical  or  architectural  Gothic  of  Mrs.  Radclifre,  and 
the  psychological  or  Revolutionary  Gothic  of  William  Godwin, 
which  united  certain  characteristics  of  the  "  Gothic  "  and  of 
the  "  Revolutionary  "  novels.  It  is  from  Godwin  that  Brown 
received  the  impulse  to  write  the  first  American  novels  that 
possess  any  real  merit. 

Born  in  Philadelphia,  in  1771,  the  descendant  of  a  family 
of  Friends  who  had  come  over  with  Penn,  Brown  was  a  frail 
1  child,  unable  to  play  with  other  boys,  and  consequently  early 
/  addicted  to  books.  His  biographer1  relates  that  even  as  an 
infant  he  would  be  found  musing  over  the  page  with  all  the 
gravity  of  a  student,  and  that,  when  he  was  still  a  child  of  ten, 
"  thinking,  which  is  to  the  uncultivated  so  laborious  and  irksome 
an  occupation,  became  to  him  the  most  delightful  of  employ 
ments."  As  a  schoolboy  he  tried  his  hand  at  both  verse  and 
prose,  and  at  the  early  age  of  sixteen  he  had  planned  three  epics, 
all  on  American  subjects, — for  the  serene  consciousness  of 
national  achievement  which  filled  the  country  at  that  time  was 
always  strong  in  Brown. 

At  the  end  of  his  school  days  he  did  not  allow  the  study 
of  the  law,  upon  which  he  then  entered,  to  interrupt  this  state 
of  "  intellectual  revelry  " — he  found  time  to  join  a  debating 

1  The  biography  by  his  friend,  William  Dunlap,  lacks  the  definiteness  of 
modern  biographical  writing,  but  it  makes  accessible  many  fragments  of 
Brown's  works.  (Philadelphia,  1815.)  Dunlap's  History  of  the  American 
>-  Theatre  (New  York,  1832)  contains  many  references  to  Brown  and  his 
friends.  See  also  W.  H.  Prescott's  Biographical  and  Critical  Miscel 
lanies  (1834). 


31 

society,  to  keep  a  journal  which  was  a  minute  record  of  his 
thoughts,  and  feelings,  and  even  of  his  letters,  and  to  study 
English  authors  with  the  definite  purpose  of  improving  his 
style.  He  became  one  of  the  founders  and  chief  ornaments 
of  a  literary  society,  the  Belles  Lettres  Club,  and  made  his 
first  appearance  in  print,  in  a  series  of  essays  contributed  to 
the  Columbian  Magazine,  in  which,  his  biographer  says,  "  he 
presented  himself  to  the  world  in  the  character  of  a  rhapsodist." 
On  the  completion  of  his  studies  Brown  could  not  conquer  his 
dislike  to  the  practice  of  law,  with  what  he  later  described  as, 
"  its  endless  tautologies,  its  impertinent  conceits,  its  lying  as 
sertions  and  hateful  artifices,"  and  he  displayed  considerable 
ingenuity  in  the  preparation  of  conscientious  reasons  for  de 
clining  it. 

Brown  at  this  period  seems  to  have  been  an  earnest,  rather 
over-read,  young  man,  much  given  to  somewhat  morbid  intro 
spection,  and  with  a  slightly  priggish  loathing  of  the  "  com 
mon  pursuits  and  common  topics  of  men,"  acquainted  with  all 
the  literary  and  political  fads  of  the  day,  and  desirous  of  im 
mediately  settling  "  the  relations,  dependencies,  and  connections 
of  the  several  parts  of  knowledge."  As  a  friend  declined  to 
perform  the  latter  task  he  decided  to  undertake  it  himself.  His 
devotion  to  literature,  however,  was  real  and  enlightened.  The 
romantic  gloom  and  self-torture,  the  corroding  sorrows,  latent 
anguishes,  and  thoughts  of  suicide  which  leaked  from  his  diary, 
where  he  meant  to  confine  them,  into  his  letters,  were  in  part 
the  result  of  youthful  morbidness,  and  in  part  an  expression 
of  the  self-analytical  spirit  of  the  day. 

For  the  next  few  years  he  was  without  definite  occupation, 
but  seems  to  have  considered  himself  in  training  for  literature. 
Repeated  visits  to  New  York  made  him  acquainted  with  friends 
of  tastes  thoroughly  congenial  with  his  own.  At  length  he 
made  his  home  there,  and  lived  at  first  with  Dunlap  and  after 
ward  with  Dr.  Elihu  Hubbard  Smith.  Here  he  seems  to  have 
done  some  magazine  work,  and  to  have  found"  spiritual  refresh 
ment  in  the  meetings  of  the  Friendly  Club,  a  literary  society 
which  held  weekly  discussions  and  published  a  review.  The 
minds  of  the  group  were  excited  by  the  political  and  social 


32 

speculation,  and  the  generous  enthusiasm,  with  which  the 
French  Revolution  was  filling1  the  air.  They  sought  "  a  plan 
to  improve  and  secure  human  happiness,"  and,  like  most  of 
the  ardent  young  spirits  of  the  time,  evidently,  looked  to  Wil 
liam  Godwin  as  the  inspired  high-priest  of  political  wisdom. 
Like  Godwin  they  traced  the  errors  of  society  to  institutions. - 

It  was  probably  as  a  result  of  these  discussions  that  Brown 
wrote,  and  in  1797  published,  his  Alcuin,  a  dialogue  on  mar 
riage.  This  work  reflects  many  of  Godwin's  views,  and  dis 
cusses  questions  of  the  position  and  education  of  women  which 
were  present  with  Brown  all  his  life.  In  other  ways,  also,  the 
society  in  which  he  found  himself  must  have  been  stimulating 
to  Brown.  He  was  surrounded  by  young  men  whose  literary 
activity  and  ambitions  were  eager  and  sincere,  although  their 
actual  accomplishment  was  not  remarkable.  His  closest  com 
panions,  Dunlap  and  Smith,  were  engaged  in  different  kinds  of 
literary  work.  Although  Smith  published  little  not  concerned 
with  his  profession,  except  an  opera,  Edwin  and  Angelina,  pre 
sented  in  1796,  he  is  said  by  Dunlap  to  have  written  many  son 
nets  and  poems.  Dunlap's  services  to  the  American  stage  as 
author,  translator,  manager,  and  later  as  historian,  are  well 
known.  His  industry  as  a  translator  and  producer  of  sensa 
tional  German  dramas,  especially  those  of  Kotzebue,  may  have 
helped  to  bring  about  Brown's  sympathetic  attitude  toward 
German  literature.1  However  that  may  be,  it  is  evident  that 
Dunlap's  friendship  and  example  must  have  done  much  to 
stir  Brown's  literary  ambitions  into  action. 

Af,ter  the  publication  of  Alcuin  Brown  began,  as  he  writes  in 
his  journal,  "  something  in  the  form  of  a  romance."  Of  this 
attempt  he  says :  "  When  a  mental  comparison  is  made  between 
this  and  the  mass  of  novels.,  I  am  inclined  to  be  pleased  with 
my  own  production.  But  when  the  objects  of  comparison  are 
changed,  and  I  revolve  the  transcendent  merits  of  Caleb  Wil 
liams,  my  pleasure  is  diminished,  and  is  preserved  from  total 
extinction  only  by  the  reflection  that  this  performance  is  my 
first."  This  work  was  never  finished  and  never  received  a 

1  For  Brown's  interest  in  German  literature  see  F.  H.  Wilkens,  Early 
Influence  of  German  Literature  in  America,  p.  37-39. 


33 

title.     According  to  Brown's  usual  system  of  nomenclature  it 
should  have  been  called  Golden,  or  the  Mysterious  Boarder. 

In  1798  the  yellow  fever  broke  out  in  New  York.  Although 
he  had  left  Philadelphia  in  1793  to  escape  the  epidemic,  Brown 
decided  to  rely  on  a  systematic  diet  for  protection,  and  remained 
in  New  York.  The  diet,  possibly  the  hasty-pudding  and  water 
recommended  in  Ormond,  did  not  justify  his  confidence;  the 
household  was  stricken  with  the  fever;  Brown  was  very  ill, 
and  Smith  died.  Brown  thus  saw  all  the  horrors  of  the  dis 
ease,  and  gathered  material  for  the  most  successful  portion  of 
his  novels,  realizing,  as  he  afterwards  remarked,  that  the  events 
of  the  epidemic  had  been  full  of  instruction  to  the  moral 
observer. 

The  first  of  Brown's  novels  to  be  actually  published  was 
Wieland,  or  the  Transformation  (1798).  An  untoward  fate 
had  overtaken  the  previously  completed  Sky  Walk,  or  the  Man 
Unknown  to  Himself.  It  was  actually  in  type,  when  the 
printer's  death  was  followed  by  disagreements  with  his  execu 
tor  which  prevented  the  publication  of  the  tale. 

At  this  time  Brown,  whose  methods  of  work  were  somewhat 
erratic,  had  five  novels  in  hand  at  once.  Of  these,  three  ap 
peared  in  1799, — Arthur  Mervyn,  which  was  first  published  as 
a  serial  in  the  Weekly  Magazine,  Edgar  Huntly,  or  Memoirs 
of  a  Sleep  Walker,  and  Ormond,  or  the  Secret  Witness.  In 
April,  1799,  Brown,  who  had  fallen  an  early  victim  to  the 
enthusiasm  for  magazine  publishing  which  was  over-running 
American  literature,1  brought  out  his  Monthly  Magazine  and 
American  Review.  This  short-lived  periodical  expired  late  in 
the  year  1800.  It  shows  interest  in  German  literature,  and  in 
scientific  subjects,  and  contains  fragments  of  Brown's  works,  a 
specimen  of  Edgar  Huntly,  Thessalonica,  a  formless,  pseudo- 
historical  short  story,  and  several  installments  of  the  unfinished 
Memoirs  of  Stephen  Calvert. 

In  1801  appeared  his  last  two  novels,  Jane  Talbot  and  Clara 
Howard.  Both  of  these  are  as  different  from  Brown's  earlier 
tales  as  is  Fleetwood  from  Caleb  Williams. 

1  For  Brown's  magazine  work  see  A.  H.  Smyth,  The  Philadelphia  Maga 
zines  and  their  Contributors.     Philadelphia,   1892. 
4 


34 

In  1803  Brown  returned  to  magazine  work  as  editor  of  the 
Literary  Magazine  and  American  Register,  "  replete,"  Dunlap 
says,  "  with  the  effusions  of  erudition,  taste,  and  genius."  To 
this  was  added  in  1806  the  editorship  of  the  American  Register. 
During  these  busy  years  Brown,  who  had  married  and  returned 
to  Philadelphia,  found  time  for  little  outside  his  magazine  work, 
except  for  the  publication  of  a  few  political  pamphlets  on  ques 
tions  of  immediate  interest.  But  he  also  wrote  a  life  of  his 
brother-in-law,  John  Blair  Linn,  made  a  translation  of  Volney, 
had  in  preparation  a  "  system  of  geography  "  which  was  left 
unfinished  at  his  death,  and  is  said  to  have  made  "  considerable 
progress  in  a  work  on  Rome  during  the  Age  of  the  Antonines, 
similar  to  Anacharsis'  Travels  in  Greece."  Novel-writing  he 
had  apparently  given  up,  although  the  success  of  his  early 
tales  seems  to  have  been  considerable,  both  in  England  and 
in  America. 

Brown  died  in  1810  after  a  lingering  illness,  bravely  endured. 
He  seems  to  have  had  the  gift  of  attaching  his  friends  warmly 
to  him,  and  to  have  produced  on  all  who  were  brought  into 
contact  with  him  an  impression  of  intellectual  ability  and 
uprightness  of  character. 

Brown's  magazine  work  and  his  political  writings,  although 
considerable  in  quantity  and  esteemed  by  him  the  serious  occu 
pation  of  a  life  to  which  novel-writing  was  only  a  distraction, 
have  done  nothing  to  keep  his  name  alive.  To  his  novels  he 
owes  the  distinction  of  being,  if  not  still  read,  at  least,  still 
talked  about — of  being  condemned  as  a  sensation-monger  on 
the  one  hand,  and  on  the  other  extolled  as  a  forerunner  of 
Hawthorne.  Of  the  six  novels  which  Brown  completed  the 
first  three,  Wieland,  Ormond,  and  Arthur  Mervyn,  show  more 
directly  the  influence  of  Caleb  Williams.  All  these  tales  are 
characterized  by  an  exaggerated  romantic  individualism — they 
are  concerned  with  men  whose  powers,  whether  for  good  or 
evil,  are  abnormal.  The  crimes  and  horrors  which  lend  an  ele 
ment  of  external  terror,  making  Caleb  Williams  "  captivatingly 
frightful "  to  Mrs.  Inchbald,  are  not  in  themselves  the  end  of 
the  story — they  are  the  effect  of  a  strong  personality  brought, 
either  by  force  of  external  circumstance  or  by  some  element 
of  its  own  nature,  into  conflict  with  its  environment. 


35 

In  Brown's  novels  the  logic  of  events,  however,  is  often 
destroyed  by  the  carelessness  of  the  composition.  The  author, 
who  generally  had  several  novels  in  process  of  construction  at 
the  same  time,  would  send  portions  of  a  tale  to  the  printer 
before  he  had  planned  the  rest  of  the  story.  The  result  was 
that  he  apparently  forgot  what  he  had  written  in  one  install 
ment  and  consequently  neglected  to  follow  it  up  in  the  next. 
He  is  never  able  to  make  a  situation  as  clear  and  simple  as  that 
which  Godwin  achieved  in  Caleb  Williams.  Caleb's  story, 
when  stripped  of  all  the  didactic  reflections  on  the  administra 
tion  of  legal  justice,  on  the  system  of  landlords,  the  condition 
of  prisons, — in  short,  of  all  the  passages  in  which  William 
Godwin,  the  serene  and  stodgy  minor  prophet,  pushes  aside 
Caleb  Williams,  the  hunted,  defiant,  remorseful  boy, — describes 
the  conflict  of  two  persistent  natures  each  driven  by  its  ruling 
passion,  the  one  by  curiosity,  the  other  by  the  worldly  concep 
tion  of  honor. 

The  story  of  Caleb  Williams  may  be  summarized  briefly. 
Caleb,  a  lad  of  unusual  ability,  the  son  of  a  small  farmer,  has 
become  the  secretary  of  Falkland,  his  landlord.  In  his  anxiety 
to  discover  the  cause  of  fits  of  melancholy  and  insane  wander 
ing  which  at  times  affect  the  benevolent  and  accomplished 
Falkland,  Williams  is  led  to  believe  that  his  patron  is  really 
guilty  of  a  murder  for  which  he  has  once  been  tried  and  ac 
quitted.  Henceforth  his  passionate  curiosity,  to  whose  satis 
faction,  he  says,  he  would  have  sacrificed  liberty  and  life,  leads 
him  to  attempt  every  means  to  discover  the  truth.  Falkland 
comes  upon  Williams  in  the  act  of  lifting  the  cover  of  a  mys 
terious  chest,  and  in  a  passion  of  impatience  tells  all  the  story 
of  his  guilt,  and  his  determination  to  hide  it  at  any  cost. 
Williams  still  loves  and  admires  his  master,  whom  he  considers 
criminal  only  through  the  force  of  circumstances  acting  on  his 
really  noble  qualities.  But  Falkland  distrusts  his  devotion, 
maddens  him  by  a  petty  tyranny  of  suspicion,  and  drives  him 
to  an  attempted  flight.  Caleb  is  captured,  and  imprisoned  on  a 
charge  of  theft  arranged  by  Falkland. 

Williams  escapes  from  prison,  but  is  prevented  by  Falkland's 
emissaries  from  leaving  the  country.  In  London  he  lives  the 


36 

life  of  a  hunted  creature,  constantly  recognized  by  Falkland's 
spies  and  driven  to  new  disguises,  until  he  is  seized  and  taken 
before  a  magistrate.  Maddened  by  the  long-drawn  terror  of 
his  hiding,  he  denounces  Falkland,  only  to  be  reproached  with 
adding  lying  to  theft.  Falkland  appears  and  tells  Williams 
that  the  apparent  persecution  was  only  a  test  of  the  lad's 
fidelity  to  his  oath,  a  test  in  which  he  has  failed.  Henceforth, 
wherever  he  goes,  he  will  always  be  in  his  patron's  power,  and 
always  be  pursued  by  his  revenge.  To  Falkland  reputation  is 
the  dearest  thing  on  earth;  therefore  his  revenge  will  be  to 
take  reputation  from  Williams. 

Thereafter  Williams  is  followed  from  place  to  place  by 
emissaries  of  Falkland,  who,  by  spreading  the  story  of  his 
theft  and  ingratitude,  make  him  an  outcast  from  each  com 
munity  that  has  sheltered  him.  Deprived  of  his  livelihood,  his 
friends,  his  betrothed,  he  forgets  the  reverence  for  Falkland 
which  has  persisted  through  all  his  sufferings,  returns  to  his 
native  place,  and  brings  a  solemn  accusation  against  his  former 
master.  Confronted  with  the  feeble,  almost  dying,  Falkland, 
Williams  is  overcome  with  grief  for  what  he  has  done.  Falk 
land,  convinced  too  late  of  Caleb's  sincerity,  praises  his  heroic 
patience,  acknowledges  the  crime,  and  dies.  Godwin  leaves 
his  hero  a  prey  to  eternal  remorse,  dramatically  inquiring,  "  of 
what  use  are  talents  and  sentiments  in  the  corrupt  wilderness 
of  human  society  ?  " 

The  faults  of  the  book  include  the  usual  Godwinian  preach 
ing  and  pomposity,  as  well  as  the  high-flown  exaggeration  of 
sentiment  common  in  the  fiction  of  the  time  and  no  peculiarity 
of  Godwin  or  of  Brown,  although  distressingly  present  in 
both.  The  most  striking  merit  is  the  vivid  representation  of 
certain  mental  states,  and  the  skill  with  which  the  narrative 
is  built  up.  The  book  is  often  called  the  ancestor  of  the  modern 
detective  story  but  the  relationship  is  certainly  remote.1  The 
detection  of  the  crime  is  accomplished  in  the  first  few  pages. 
Thereafter  the  interest  of  the  tale  is,  on  the  one  hand,  in  the 

1  For  discussion  of  Caleb  Williams  by  Poe  and  Dickens  see  J.  H.  Ingram, 
Edgar  Allen  Poe,  His  Life,  Letters,  and  Opinions,  London,  1886,  p.  153, 
and  E.  A.  Poe's  Works,  Edinburgh,  1890,  Vol.  IV,  p.  129. 


37 

darkness  of  Falkland's  mind,  blackened  by  guilt  to  an  insanity 
of  remorse,  yet  still  commanding  and  still  noble,  and,  on  the 
other,  in  the  slow  torment  of  Caleb's  life,  the  sense  of  being 
watched  and  followed,  of  the  imminence  of  an  inexorable 
power,  the  final  animal  instinct  to  turn  on  the  pursuer.  In 
this  combination  of  the  sensational  and  the  analytic  it  is  the 
wreck  of  the  mind,  and  not  the  shedding  of  blood,  that  gives 
the  element  of  terror. 

Wieland,  Brown's  first  published  novel,  is,  like  Caleb  Wil 
liams,  autobiographical  in  form.  The  narrator  is  Clara  Wie 
land,  a  young  woman  of  the  educated  and  independent  type 
then  just  appearing  in  fiction.  Like  Caleb  Williams,  and  like 
most  of  Brown's  other  personages,  she  begins  by  lamenting  the 
singularity  of  her  fate — "  the  experience  of  no  human  being  can 
furnish  a  parallel ;  that  I  beyond  all  the  rest  of  mankind  should 
be  reserved  for  a  destiny  without  alleviation  and  without  exam 
ple."  She  then  describes  the  Wieland  family,  peaceful,  cul 
tured,  rather  pedantic,  dwelling  tranquilly  on  the  banks  of  the 
Schuylkill.  Their  favorite  gathering  place  is  "  what  to  the 
common  eye  would  seem  a  summer-house,"  but  is  in  reality  a 
temple  built  by  the  older  Wieland,  a  religious  monomaniac, 
who  in  that  very  temple  had  died  a  mysterious  death,  appar 
ently  by  spontaneous  combustion.  In  spite  of  the  associations 
of  the  place  the  family  meet  there  daily,  and  pass  happy  hours 
discussing  the  latest  German  poetry,  comparing  texts  of  Cicero, 
"turning  over  the  Delia  Crusca  dictionary,"  and  "bandying 
quotations  and  syllogisms." 

This  learned  peace  is  soon  disturbed  by  the  arrival  of  a 
mysterious  stranger,  Carwin,  a  travelling  acquaintance  of 
Wieland's  brother-in-law,  Pleyell.  Carwin's  strange  person 
ality  and  expressive  voice  have  a  fascination  for  Clara,  which 
she  for  a  time  mistakes  for  the  "  first  inroads  of  a  passion  inci 
dent  to  every  female  heart."  Mysterious  voices  are  heard 
around  the  temple ;  Wieland,  on  his  way  thither,  hears  his  wife 
warning  him  away, — yet  on  returning  to  the  house  finds  that 
she  has  not  left  her  chair.  A  voice  in  the  dark  warns  Clara 
of  a  power  that  would  injure  her,  and  promises  protection. 
Strange  voices  are  heard  quarreling  at  night  in  the  house  in 


38 

which  Clara  lives  alone  with  her  maid,  and  when  she,  fleeing, 
falls  senseless  on  her  brother's  threshold,  a  voice  of  more  than 
mortal  power  calls  the  household  to  her  aid.  Not  content  with 
establishing  a  supernatural  reign  of  terror,  the  mysterious 
power  convinces  Clara's  lover,  Pleyell,  of  her  faithlessness,  by 
causing  him  to  hear  her  voice  making  the  most  disgraceful 
avowals  to  another. 

In  disgust,  Pleyell  hastily  decides  to  return  to  Germany,  and 
Clara  vainly  pursues  to  dissuade  him.  On  her  return  she  finds 
that  her  brother  has  succumbed  to  the  family  tendency  to 
insanity,  and,  at  the  instigation  of  the  mysterious  voices,  has 
killed  his  wife  and  all  his  children  as  a  divinely  demanded  sac 
rifice.  After  a  long  illness  in  another  city  Clara  returns  to 
her  house  for  a  farewell  visit.  There  she  is  confronted  with 
Carwin,  who  acknowledges  that,  by  what  he  calls  biloquialism 
or  ventriloquialism,  he  has  himself  been  the  author  of  the  mys 
terious  voices.  Wieland,  who  has  escaped  from  prison,  now 
appears  and  prepares  to  finish  his  task  by  the  sacrifice  of  Clara. 
In  order  to  dissuade  him  from  the  deed  Carwin  again  assumes 
the  mysterious  voice.  At  its  rebuke  Wieland  suddenly  recovers 
from  his  insanity,  realizes  what  he  has  done,  and  stabs  himself. 
Carwin  escapes.  The  story  does  not  follow  his  adventures 
further,  but  devotes  a  few  pages  to  the  fate  of  Clara,  who 
finally  becomes  the  wife  of  Pleyell.  In  the  last  paragraph  a 
moral  is  drawn,  somewhat  abruptly,  from  the  events  of  the 
tale. 

The  story  is  obviously  of  a  more  sensational  type  than  Caleb 
Williams — indeed  the  use  of  supernatural  clap-trap  is  a  re 
minder,  at  least,  of  Mrs.  Radcliffe — but  the  agency  itself  is 
far  different  from  her  trap-doors  and  mechanical  devices.  In 
stead  of  these  Brown  uses  a  natural,  but  to  him  mysterious  and 
awful,  power, — that  control  over  the  voice  which  he  calls 
biloquialism,  much  as  a  novelist  of  to-day  might  use  hypnotism. 
The  part  played  by  Carwin  as  instigator  of  Wieland's  crimes 
is  apparently  without  motive;  indeed  Carwin's  character  and 
history  receive  no  adequate  explanation  in  the  novel,  which  is 
really  an  episode  connected  with  the  unfinished  Memoirs  of 
Carwin,  the  Biloquist,  rather  than  an  independent  work. 


39 

Of  these  Memoirs  only  the  story  of  the  hero's  early  youth 
and  education  was  completed.  Carwin,  a  youth  of  consider 
able  natural  ability,  but  chiefly  remarkable  for  his  skill  in  ven 
triloquism,  attracts  the  attention  of  a  distinguished  and  mys 
terious  Englishman,  Ludloe,  who  takes  Carwin  back  to  Europe 
with  him.  There  Carwin  is  treated  with  affectionate  indul 
gence,  is  gradually  led  to  share  Ludloe's  views  on  the  ills  of 
society,  and  finally  is  taught  the  justness  of  dissimulation  for 
a  worthy  cause.  Carwin  is  then  sent  to  Spain  to  study  man 
and  human  institutions,  practising  "  a  system  of  deceit  pur 
sued  merely  from  the  love  of  truth."  During  his  stay  in  Spain 
Carwin  frequently  exercises  his  "  bi-lingual "  power,  yet  still 
conceals  its  possession  from  Ludloe,  although  he  has  pledged 
himself  to  report  every  detail  of  his  life. 

On  Carwin's  return  to  England,  Ludloe  gradually  acquaints 
him  with  the  existence  of  a  political  association  engaged  in  a 
great  and  arduous  design,  and  leads  him  to  desire  to  join  it. 
The  secret  object  of  the  association  is  not  told,  but. Carwin 
discovers  an  atlas  with  a  map  of  an  unknown  island  country, 
and  perceives  that  the  founding  of  a  new  civilization  in  that 
place  must  be  Ludloe's  hope.  Ludloe  offers  to  make  Carwin 
a  member  of  the  association,  but  insists  on  the  dangers  of 
undertaking  the  task  lightly,  the  entire  devotion  required,  the 
destruction  sure  to  follow  a  breach  of  secrecy,  and,  above  all, 
the  absolute  necessity  of  a  complete  confession  of  every  detail 
of  his  past  life.  Carwin,  although  confessing  everything  else, 
and  although  aware  that  Ludloe  has  an  unaccountable  famil 
iarity  with  his  past  actions,  persists  in  concealing  his  bilo- 
quial  achievements.  Ludloe,  evidently  unsatisfied,  promises  him 
another  opportunity  to  continue  his  confessions.  At  this  point 
the  story  breaks  off.  From  Carwin's  account  of  himself  in 
Wieland  it  appears  that  he  has  in  some  way  lost  Ludloe's 
favor,  has  been  imprisoned  on  charges  invented  by  him,  and 
has  escaped  to  America. 

This  dream  of  an  ideal  commonwealth  beyond  the  sea  was 
the  most  persistent  result  of  Brown's  early  political  specula 
tions.  It  appears  again  in  Ormond,  in  Arthur  Mervyn,  in  the 
fragment  of  the  story  of  Colden,  and  in  the  few  pages  con- 


40 

cerning  the  mysterious  Italian,  Adini.  And  Dunlap  explains 
the  fragmentary  Sketches  of  the  History  of  Carsol  and  the 
Sketches  of  the  History  of  the  Carrils  and  Ormes  as  a  part  of 
a  plan  for  extensive  works  combining  fiction  and  history  while 
imitating  the  air  of  history, — the  whole  to  be  completed  by  "  an 
Utopian  system  of  manners  and  government."1 

The  promoters  and  mouthpieces  of  these  ideal  schemes  are 
men,  like  Falkland,  of  unusual  powers  and  great  possibilities 
of  good,  but,  like  Falkland,  turned  by  the  force  of  circum 
stances  in  part  to  evil.  Ludloe,  Carwin's  patron,  is  only 
sketched  in  the  fragment  in  which  he  appears,  but  he  was 
obviously  intended  to  have  something  of  the  sinister  charm 
which  distinguished  Ormond,  Brown's  most  finished  villain, 
whose  pursuit  of  the  beautiful  and  virtuous  Constantia  Dudley 
leads  him  to  cause  the  murder  of  her  father,  and  finally  to 
threaten  the  life  of  Constantia  herself,  who  stabs  him  in  self- 
defence.  Ormond  is  the  more  detailed  portrait  of  the  heroic 
criminal  sketched  in  Ludloe.  He  is  said  to  be  "  of  all  mankind 
the  most  difficult  and  the  most  deserving  to  be  studied."  It 
is  due  to  the  "  unexampled  formation  of  this  man's  mind " 
that,  as  in  the  case  of  Falkland,  his  good  qualities  become  the 
source  of  his  errors — "  considerations  of  justice  and  pity  were 
made,  by  a  fatal  perverseness  of  reasoning,  champions  and 
bulwarks  of  his  most  atrocious  mistakes."  Thoroughly  de 
voted  to  political  schemes  "likely  to  possess  an  extensive  in 
fluence  on  the  future  conditions  of  the  western  world,"  the 
center  of  intrigues  and  director  of  all  sorts  of  agents  and 
fellow-workers,  he  still  finds  time  to  gratify  his  curiosity  by 
impersonating  a  chimney-sweep,  and  thus  introducing  himself 
into  his  neighbor's  houses.  Confident  in  his  own  position,  and 
the  force  of  his  own  personality,  he  disregards  the  ordinary 
conventions  of  society  and,  we  are  told,  never  condescends  to 
apply  the  title  of  Mr.  or  Miss  to  anyone.  In  spite  of  his 
avowed  contempt  for  religion  and  for  marriage,  his  fascination 
of  personality  and  intellect  is  fatal  to  the  beautiful  Helena,  who 

1  Dunlap,  Vol.  I,  p.  258.  Such  a  system  was  actually  described  by  Henry 
Sherburne  in  his  Oriental  Philanthropist  (Portsmouth,  1800),  in  which 
Oriental  fairy  tale  machinery  is  used  to  bring  about  the  establishment  of 
an  ideal  state. 


v* 


41 

possesses  only  "attainments  suited  to  the  imbecility  of  her 
sex,"  and  it  almost  proves  the  undoing  of  the  grave  and  learned 
Constantia.  Although  in  the  conception  of  his  character,  in 
its  mingling  of  benevolence  and  crime  with  some  strange  su 
perhuman  force  commanding  reverence,  he  resembles  Falk 
land,  he  is  as  unconventional  as  Falkland  is  elegant.  The 
contrast  between  their  daily  manners  and  speech  is  as  great 
as  that  between  the  crude  pleasure  derived  by  the  youthful 
Ormond  from  decorating  his  horse's  mane  with  the  heads  of 
five  Turks  suspended  by  their  gory  locks,  and  the  polished  ele 
gance  with  which  Falkland's  Italian  duel  is  conducted. 

A  deeper  difference  between  Falkland,  on  the  one  hand,  and 
Ludloe  and  Ormond  on  the  other,  lies  in  the  circumstances 
that  have  turned  them  to  villainy.  Falkland  becomes  a  crim 
inal  in  a  moment  of  passion,  and  thereafter  the  principles  which 
have  guided  his  life  honorably  are  made  to  lead  him  to  infamy. 
But  Ormond,  whose  crimes  are  set  before  the  reader,  and 
Ludloe,  whose  villainy  can  only  be  inferred  from  hints  in  the 
incomplete  Carwin  and  in  Wieland,  have  been  led  into  evil 
ways  while  seeking  a  good  end.  One  must  go  beyond  Godwin 
for  a  model  for  these  "  systematic  villains."  Extricated  from 
the  fogs  of  indefmiteness  in  which  Brown  has  purposely 
wrapped  them,  they  resemble  the  leaders  of  the  secret  society 
of  the  Illuminati,  or  at  least  they  resemble  the  popular  idea 
of  those  leaders. 

The  order  of  the  Illuminati  was  established  in  Bava 
ria,  in  1775,  by  Weishaupt,  a  professor  of  Canon  Law  at 
Ingolstadt,  and  in  1780  was  suppressed  by  the  Elector.  It 
is  said,  however,  to  have  secretly  continued  its  organization, 
to  have  had  representatives  all  over  Europe  and  to  have  had 
an  active  part  in  the  French  Revolution.  At  the  time  at  which 
Brown  wrote,  the  Illuminati,  their  wide  aims,  their  evil 
methods,  and  their  mysterious  power,  were  a  widespread  cause 
of  discussion.  A  good  contemporary  account  of  the  order  can 
be  found  in  a  book  by  John  Robison,  Secretary  to  the  Royal 
Society  of  Edinburgh,  with  the  ponderous  title  Proofs  of  a 
Conspiracy  against  all  the  Religions  and  Governments  of  Eu 
rope,  carried  on  in  the  secret  meetings  of  Free  Masons,  Illu- 


42 

minati,  and  Reading  Societies.'1-  The  elders  of  the  society  were 
supposed  to  undertake  the  training  of  the  novices  or  Miner- 
vals,  just  as  Ludloe  trained  Carwin.  The  novices  had  no 
acquaintance  with  other  members  of  the  society, — each  dealt 
with  his  own  guardian  illuminatus,  under  whose  guidance  he 
gradually  imbibed  new  principles  and  forsook  those  in  which 
he  had  been  brought  up;  he  learned,  for  example,  that,  as  the 
object  of  the  society  was  the  happiness  of  all  mankind,  any 
narrow  consideration  of  national  patriotism  must  give  way 
to  this  wider  bond.  Those  higher  in  authority  in  the  society 
were  accused  of  absolute  unscrupulousness  of  method  and 
great  immorality  of  life.  A  shorter  account  of  the  society 
was  prefixed  by  P.  Will,  the  translator,  to  a  novel  by  the  Mar 
quis  of  Grosse,  translated  as  Horrid  Mysteries2  (1796).  Will 
quotes  as  his  authority  the  Uber  den  Umgang  mit  Menschen 
of  the  Baron  von  Knigge,  who  at  one  time  had  been  high  in 
authority  among  the  Illuminati?  The  story  is  of  the  most 
glaringly  sensational  order,  but  the  views  attributed  to  the 
Illuminati  are  much  like  those  of  Ormond  and  Ludloe, — "  let 
us  farther  suppose  that  the  society  should  watch  the  secret 
process  of  nature,  trace  the  means  Providence  employs  to 
educate  the  human  race  and  pursue  the  discoveries  which  their 
united  exertions  should  stir  up ;  let  us  finally  suppose  that  these 
men  should  faithfully  act  as  vice-regents  of  Providence,  and 
strive  not  to  improve,  but  to  accelerate,  the  actions  of  the 
Supreme  Ruler  of  the  world;  would  these  men  wander  from 
their  great  mark  on  account  of  the  lesser  troubles  of  this 
life?"4 

JThe   first   edition    of   this   work   appeared   in   Edinburgh   in    1797,    the 
fourth  in  New  York  in  1798. 

2  Peacock's    Scythrop    Glowry,   who   wished   to    revive   the   work   of   the 
Illuminati,  slept  "  with  Horrid  Mysteries  under  his  pillow,  and  dreamed  of 
venerable   eleutherarchs,    and   ghastly   confederates   holding   midnight   con 
ventions    in    subterranean    caves."     (T.    L.     Peacock,    Nightmare    Abbey, 
London,  1896,  p.  143). 

3  Mr.  Wilkens  in  his  Early  Influence  of  German  Literature  in  America 
quotes  from  Dr.  J.  W.  Francis  a  statement  that  Will  lived  in  New  York 
for  a  while  before  he  published,  in  London,  in  1799,  his  translation  of  von 
Knigge's  Practical  Philosophy  of  Social  Life.     If  this  is  true  Brown  was 
probably  personally  acquainted  with  Will.     See  Wilkens,  p.  26. 

4  Horrid  Mysteries,  p.  130. 


43 

More  briefly,  their  aim  is  said  to  be  the  regeneration  of  the 
world  by  faith,  dagger,  and  poison;  but  in  the  meantime  the 
machinery  organized  for  that  great  purpose  is  often  employed 
to  serve  the  evil  ends  of  individuals.  There  was  much  in  this 
mingling  of  idealism  and  infamy  to  appeal  to  the  peculiar 
imagination  of  Brown,  already  stimulated  by  Godwin's  high- 
minded  criminal.  In  the  handling  of  this  material  Brown 
showed  a  more  artistic  instinct  than  did  the  author  of  the 
Horrid  Mysteries  or  Brown's  own  countrywpman,  Mrs.  Wood. 
Although  in  the  relations  of  Carwin  and  Ludloe  he  followed 
closely  the  system  attributed  to  the  Illwninati,  Brown  identified 
his  heroes  with  no  known  association,  and  never  explained  the 
source  of  their  power,  or  the  exact  nature  of  their  designs. 
To  the  mystery  thus  guarded,  he  added  the  idealizing  element 
of  the  Utopian  commonwealth,  which  seems  to  have  been  an 
addition  of  his  own  rather  than  a  scheme  popularly  attributed 
to  the  Illuminati.  Although  the  first  impulse  to  the  tale  of 
crime  and  of  the  high-minded  criminal  seems  to  have  come 
from  Caleb  Williams,  the  Illuminati  determined  the  form  which 
this  mixture  of  the  magnanimous  and  the  despicable  was  to 
take,  and  made  Brown's  tales  an  exposition,  in  a  wider  sense 
than  was  Caleb  Williams,  of  the  text  Le  crime  a  ses  heros, 
Verreur  a  ses  martyrs.'1 

Arthur  Mervyn,  published  in  the  same  year  as  Ormond,  in 
troduces  a  villain  of  a  lesser  type,  but  still  with  something 
which  sets  him  apart  from  other  men,  something  that  wakens 
in  the  youthful  Arthur  "  emotions  of  veneration  and  awe." 
Welbeck's  good  and  ill  qualities,  like  Ormond's,  come  from 
the  same  source ;  but  in  his  case  there  are  no  Utopian  schemes 

1  The  Illuminati  made  a  later  appearance  in  fiction  in  George  Sand's 
Comtesse  de  Rudolstadt,  which  gives  an  enthusiastically  idealized  account 
of  such  a  society,  and  an  elaborate  description  of  their  ceremonies.  The 
tale  is  chiefly  concerned,  however,  with  a  society  of  Invisibles  forerunners 
of  the  historical  Illuminati,  not  with  the  group  of  Weishaupt  and  Zwack, 
who  appear  only  in  a  postscript.  A  secret  society  of  "  Brethren  of  the 
Common  Weal,"  resembling  the  Illuminati  of  fiction  in  their  combination 
of  a  noble  aim  with  evil  means,  appeared  in  Peter  Irving's  Giovanni 
Sbogarro  (1821),  a  tale  said  to  be  taken  from  the  French  with  many 
alterations.  The  political  secret  society  is  lost  sight  of,  however,  in  pur 
suing  the  popular  German  brigand-theme. 


44 

for  the  betterment  of  mankind,  no  generous  impatience  of 
human  suffering.  His  actions,  good  and  ill,  all  proceed  from 
the  love  of  money  and  reputation ;  hence  his  crimes  are  sordid, 
and  his  death  lingering  and  disgraceful. 

Welbeck's  worldliness  is,  perhaps,  painted  the  blacker  in 
order  to  enhance  the  simple  virtues  of  Arthur  Mervyn,  the 
ploughboy  philosopher,  whom,  to  serve  his  own  ends,  he  takes 
into  his  family.  Arthur  seems  to  have  been  intended  for  an 
example  of  the  noble  child  of  nature,  instructed  but  not 
sophisticated  by  a  few  good  books, — a  specimen  of  natural 
excellence  unspoiled  by  society,  somewhat  reminiscent  of  Caleb 
Williams. 

As  a  story  the  book  possesses  little  interest,  and  constitutes, 
indeed,  practically  two  independent  works, — for  Brown  ap 
parently  forgot  how  he  was  going  to  continue  and  pieced  out 
his  tale  with  a  new  set  of  personages.  It  contains,  however, 
Brown's  best  known  "  horror,"  the  famous  description  of  the 
yellow  fever  plague  in  Philadelphia.  It  is  the  repetition  of 
a  well-worn  commonplace  to  point  out  that  here,  for  once, 
Brown  has  achieved  the  really  horrible  which  he  and  all  the 
race  of  Gothic  novelists  had  so  long  and  industriously  sought. 
Yellow  fever  scenes  are  introduced  in  the  first  part  of  Ormond, 
and  are  described  with  a  realistic  detail  as  complete  as  that  in 
Arthur  Mervyn,  but  the  scale  of  the  picture  is  less.1  In  Arthur 
Mervyn  Brown  managed  to  give  a  sense  of  the  horror  of 
silent  streets  disturbed  only  by  the  rattling  of  the  dead  cart, 
of  the  terror  of  empty  houses  abandoned  to  the  dead  and  the 
dying,  of  the  atmosphere  of  disease  and  death  hanging  over 
the  panic-stricken  city  in  which  neither  food  nor  shelter  could 
be  bought.  He  describes  the  flight  of  the  living,  the  atrocities 
of  the  hospital,  and  the  hearse  men  dragging  out  the  still  breath 
ing  bodies,  and  illustrates  the  general  desolation  by  the  experi 
ences  of  Arthur  who,  attacked  by  the  fever,  could  only  drag 
himself  to  a  deserted  house  to  die  out  of  reach  of  the  hospital 
cart.  Brown's  descriptions  are  of  an  unshrinking  realism,  he 
never  trusts  in  suggestion  or  in  the  imagination  of  his  reader, 

1  The  Philadelphia  epidemic  appears  later  in  Laura,  "  By  a  Lady  of  Phila 
delphia."  (New  York,  1809.) 


45 

and  yet  from  his  loathsome  catalogue  of  disgusting  details  there 
results  an  effect  of  simple  horror. 

Arthur  Mervyn  is  the  last  of  Brown's  tales  of  villainy.  Edgar 
Huntly,  or  the  Sleep  Walker  can  boast  of  nothing  more 
iniquitous  than  a  murderous  madman  and,  for  the  greater 
confusion  of  the  reader,  two  sleep-walkers.  The  book,  like 
Arthur  Mervyn,  breaks  in  two  in  the  middle.  The  early  part 
deals  with  the  insane  Clithero,  while  Edgar's  wilderness  ex 
periences  form  the  second,  and  by  far  the  more  interesting  part 
of  the  work.1 

In  1801,  two  years  after  the  publication  of  Edgar  Huntly, 
appeared  Brown's  last  two  novels,  Clara  Howard,  or  the 
Enthusiasm  of  Love  and  Jane  Talbot.  In  contrast  to  all  his 
other  tales  these  are  entirely  without  bloodshed — not  a  single 
murder  adorns  the  pages  of  either  book.  Clara  Howard  is 
entirely  without  a  villain,  and  in  Jane  Talbot  there  is  only  a 
poor,  meddling,  little  spinster  villainess.  Brown  seems  to  be 
escaping  from  the  influence  of  the  tale  of  horror  and  indulging 
his  natural  bent  toward  the  analytical.  The  form,  also,  dif 
fers  from  his  early  autobiographies.  The  story  is  told  in 
letters  exchanged  by  the  hero  and  heroine.  Although  in  the 
days  when  he  wrote  Alcuin  Brown,  with  the  severity  of  the 
youthful  sage,  had  apparently  scorned  love  stories,  remarking 
that  "  the  languishing  and  sighing  lover  is  an  object  to  which 
the  errors  of  mankind  have  annexed  a  certain  degree  of  im 
portance,"  in  these  later  tales  he  employs  the  conventional  ma 
terial  of  fiction ;  and  love,  which  has  now  become  in  his  esti 
mation  a  "  precious  inebriation  of  the  heart,"  provides  the 
theme  of  the  letters. 

The  reader  of  these  letters  is  constantly  reminded  that  they 
were  written  in  the  days  of  The  Rights  of  Woman.  In  Alcuin 
Brown  had  advocated  equality  of  education  and  of  industrial 
opportunity  for  men  and  women,  and  in  all  his  novels  his  con 
tempt  for  "  female  metaphysics "  and  his  enthusiasm  for  a 
more  rational  system  of  education  are  apparent.  In  Con- 
stantia  Dudley,  the  heroine  of  Ormond,  he  had  pre-figured  the 
virtues  of  Clara  Howard.  Constantia's  education  had  been 

1  For  Edgar  Huntly  see  Chapter  III. 


46 

conducted  in  Latin  and  English;  her  father  had  taught  her 
mathematics,  anatomy,  and  astronomy,  and  interested  her  in 
social  theories,  "  instead  of  familiarizing  her  with  the  amorous 
effusions  of  Petrarch  and  Racine,  he  made  her  thoroughly  con 
versant  with  Tacitus  and  Milton."  As  a  result  of  this  paternal 
forethought  Constantia  walked  always  in  the  light  of  reason, 
early  decided  that  "  to  marry  in  extreme  youth  would  be  a 
proof  of  pernicious  and  opprobrious  temerity,"  rejected  her 
early  suitor  Balfour  because  of  the  "  poverty  of  his  discourse 
and  ideas,"  and,  notwithstanding  the  fascination  which  Ormond 
exerted  over  her,  never  fully  gave  him  her  affection  because 
"  he  had  embraced  a  multitude  of  opinions  which  appeared  to 
her  to  be  erroneous.  Till  these  were  satisfied  and  their  con 
clusions  were  made  to  correspond,  wedlock  was  improper." 
Meanwhile  Constantia  went  on  her  way  serene,  self-poised, 
self-supporting,  adored  by  a  fond  parent  who  "  never  reflected 
on  his  relationship  to  her  without  rapture."  Her  qualities 
were  enhanced  by  contrast  with  the  women  surrounding  her; 
— the  weak  and  yielding  Helena  whose  early  training  was  of 
the  antiquated  softening  variety,  the  impulsive  and  sentimental 
Sophia,  and  the  energetic  but  unbalanced  Martinette  de 
Beauvais.  The  latter  accompanied  her  husband  to  war, 
"more  than  once  rescued  him  from  death  by  the  seasonable 
destruction  of  his  adversary,"  and  among  other  Amazonian 
achievements,  "  with  a  fusil  of  two  barrels,"  killed  thirteen 
officers  at  Jemappes.  Constantia,  without  the  gentleness  of 
Helena  or  the  vivacity  of  Martinette,  had  a  clearness  of  thought 
and  a  poise  of  character  unusual  in  the  heroines  of  fiction. 
It  was  probably  her  resolute  independence,  her  ability  to  think 
for  herself,  and  the  unconventional  nature  of  her  conclusions, 
that  won  for  her  Shelley's  admiration. 

Clara  Howard  is  Constantia  Dudley  without  the  hardening 
effects  of  poverty  and  care,  and  with  the  addition  of  an  en 
thusiastic  affection  for  a  charming  and  guileless  youth,  one  of 
Brown's  gifted  rustics, —  a  clock  maker  from  a  New  Jersey 
village  to  whom  Clara's  step-father  plays  the  part  of  patron 
so  indispensable  in  Brown's  plots.  In  this  case,  however,  the 
patron  has  none  of  the  mingled  nature  of  Ludloe  or  of  Welbeck 


47 

— he  is  all  bland  benevolence,  and  far  too  much  of  a  philos 
opher  to  object  to  bestowing  his  daughter  on  a  youth  whose 
natural  merits  are  unadorned  by  position,  property,  or  any 
thing  more  than  a  self-administered  education.  But  Clara 
discovers  that  Stanley  is  already  betrothed  to  Mary  Wilmot, 
whom  he  has  never  loved.  Mary  vanishes,  and  Clara  nobly 
sends  the  reluctant  Philip  in  pursuit. 

The  letters  which  compose  the  tale  are  written  during  his 
absence,  and  are  chiefly  occupied  by  minute  analysis  of  the 
writer's  feelings.  Clara,  who  is  the  stronger  spirit,  goads 
Philip  on  in  his  not  very  energetic  search,  and  devotes  many 
pages  to  the  dissection  of  his  motives  and  of  hers.  Very 
characteristic  is  the  firmness  with  which  she  repulses  his  occa 
sional  rebellion  against  the  programme  of  self-renunciation 
which  she  has  laid  out  for  him.  "  I  am  in  hopes  that  time 
and  reflection  will  instill  into  you  better  principles.  Till  then 
I  shall  not  be  displeased  if  your  letter  be  confined  to  a  mere 
narrative  of  your  journey.  Adieu,  Clara  Howard."  Philip 
promptly  retaliates  by  contracting  an  apparently  mortal  illness. 
On  his  recovery  the  correspondence  proceeds,  with  the  same 
alternations  of  enthusiastic  affection  and  quibbling  reproaches, 
until  Mary  suddenly  reappears,  betrothed  to  another.  Every 
obstacle  to  happiness  is  thus  removed,  and  Philip  flies  to  the 
fond  Clara  who  assures  him  that,  with  "  the  improvements  of 
time,"  and  her  own  judicious  training,  he  will  soon  equal  her 
in  "  moral  discernment,"  and  surpass  her  in  everything  else. 

Their  story,  that  of  the  betrothal  of  the  poor,  untrained,  and 
unconventional,  but  gifted  and  charming  country  boy,  to  the 
older  and  more  sophisticated  woman  of  wealth  and  social  ex 
perience,  recalls  the  strange  love  affairs  of  Arthur  Mervyn. 
Although  Arthur  has  won  the  young  affections  of  Eliza  Had- 
win,  a  damsel  of  fifteen,  that  "  age  of  delicate  fervour,  of 
inartificial  love,"  and  although  his  heart  melts  with  rapture 
when  he  sees  her,  yet  he  has  the  fortitude  to  weigh  the  matter 
through  many  pages,  and  finally  to  announce  that  "  In  conse 
quence  of  these  reflections  I  decided  to  suppress  the  tenderness 
which  the  company  of  Miss  Hadwin  produced."  To  her  he 
prefers  the  widowed  Achsa  Fielding,  of  whom  he  says  that 


48 

"  her  superior  age,  sedateness,  and  prudence  gave  my  deport 
ment  a  filial  freedom  and  affection,  and  I  was  fond  of  calling 
her  '  Mamma/  "  He  is,  as  he  candidly  remarks,  "  wax  in  her 
hands/'  and  he  evidently  looks  forward  to  a  life  of  felicity,  rely 
ing  on  Mrs.  Fielding's  judgment  for  guidance  and  on  her  prop 
erty  for  support.  In  the  case  of  Clara  Howard  and  Philip 
Stanley  the  difference  of  age  and  of  temperament  is  not  as 
great,  but  there  is  the  same  picture  of  the  resolute  and  reason 
able  woman  directing  the  gentle  and  irresolute  boy. 

The  philosophical  indifference  to  the  sordid  process  of 
money-getting  displayed  by  Arthur  Mervyn,  and  to  some  ex 
tent  by  Philip  Stanley,  is  even  more  pronounced  in  Henry 
Golden,  the  hero  of  Jane  Talbot.  "  I  cannot  labor  for  bread," 
he  frankly  informs  the  enamoured  Jane.  "  I  cannot  work  to 
live.  In  that  respect  I  have  no  parallel.  The  world  does 
not  contain  my  likeness.  Hence  it  is,  that  if  by  marriage  you 
should  become  wholly  dependent  on  me  it  could  never  take 
place."  This  is  the  whole  question  in  the  novel;  for  Jane  is 
dependent  on  her  adopted  mother,  Mrs.  Fielder,  who  disap 
proves  of  Golden  because  he  is  supposed  to  be  a  disciple  of  the 
iniquitous  Godwin.  Of  course  Mrs.  Fielder  believes  the 
charge  brought  against  him  by  Miss  Jenny,  a  gossiping 
spinster,  whose  animosity  is  explained  by  the  fact  that  she  had 
once  been  in  love  with  Jane's  former  husband.  Both  Golden 
and  Mrs.  Fielder  besiege  Jane  with  arguments  and,  as  Jane's 
heart  is  apparently  too  warm  to  permit  her  judgment  to  be 
steadfast,  she  agrees,  usually,  with  the  one  who  has  last  written. 
Finally  Golden  is  persuaded  to  withdraw,  and  starts  on  a  voy 
age  to  China.  He  disappears  on  the  way,  but  after  the  death 
of  Mrs.  Fielder  returns,  in  time  to  prevent  the  broken-hearted 
Jane  from  marrying  another  man. 

In  this  story,  as  in  that  of  Clara  Howard,  nothing  happens. 
The  entire  book  is  occupied  with  the  weighing  of  reasons,  the 
chopping  up  of  motives,  the  analysis  of  emotions.  Jane  ac 
knowledges  her  fondness  for  talking  herself  over — "  It  has 
always  been  so.  I  have  always  found  an  unaccountable  plea 
sure  in  dissecting,  as  it  were,  my  heart,  uncovering  one  by 
one  its  many  folds,  and  laying  it  before  you,  as  a  country  is 


49 

shown  in  a  map."  The  portrait  of  Jane  is  evidently  a  careful 
attempt  to  describe  an  affectionate,  impulsive,  unconventional 
creature,  easily  bent  by  an  appeal  to  her  affection,  yet  springing 
back  toward  a  reliance  on  her  own  judgment.  Unfortunately, 
not  content  with  having  made  his  Jane  of  a  self-analytical  turn 
like  his  own,  Brown  fell  into  the  fatal  error  of  trying  to  give 
her  a  light  and  playful  humor.  Brown  himself  was  not  a 
playful  person,  and  his  ideas  of  playfulness  seem  to  have  dif 
fered  from  those  of  the  modern  reader. 

Jane  Talbot,  however,  shares  with  Brown's  other  heroines 
the  interest  given  by  her  apparent  modernness  in  contrast  with 
contemporary  heroines,  who  were  still  blushing,  and  sighing,  \ 
and  swooning,  by  the  rules  which  tales  of  sentiment  had  long 
and  faithfully  followed.  Brown's  women  are  not  interesting  1 
as  individuals — he  never  made  them  really  live — but  their 
unlifelikeness  and  the  mechanical  jerkings  of  their  movements 
cannot  conceal  the  author's  intention  to  make  them  women  of 
a  newer  type,  to  let  them  speak,  and  act,  and  love,  for  them 
selves,  relying  on^JJieiiL--0w-iL4udgnient,  and  not  on  the  con 
ventions  of  society,  or  on  the  divinely  inspired  wisdom  of  a 
father  or  husband.  There  is  an  immeasurable  distance  be 
tween  the  helpless,  drooping,  persecuted  Monima  and  the 
capable,  self-reliant  Constantia  Dudley,  yet  the  Beggar  Girl 
was  actually  published  four  years  later  than  Ormond. 

It  is  customary  to  congratulate  Brown  on  the  possession  of 
a  sense  of  the  horrible  more  real  than  that  of  his  contem 
poraries.  This  statement,  however,  can  perhaps  be  made  too 
sweeping.  Brown's  mysteriously  villainous  heroes  have  an 
unquestionable  effect  of  power,  but  his  greatest  success  in  the 
line  of  terror  was  in  his  yellow  fever  scenes ;  his  murders  are 
more  gory  than  convincing,  and  the  spontaneous  combustion 
of  the  elder  Wieland  fails  to  thrill  the  modern  reader.  Yet 
to  Brown  and  his  contemporaries  the  center  of  what  Miss 
Seward  would  have  called  "  horrific  greatness "  in  Arthur 
Mervyn,  the  scenes  in  which  Brown  aimed,  as  he  said,  "  to 
wind  up  the  reader's  passions  to  the  highest  pitch,"1  were  the 

1  Dunlap,  Vol.  II,  p.  9. 
5 


50 

scenes  between  Mervyn  and  Welbeck.  The  yellow  fever  de 
scriptions  were  introduced,  as  Brown  says,  to  call  forth  benevo 
lence  to  the  aid  of  disease  and  poverty,  and  do  not  seem  to 
have  thrilled  his  contemporaries  as  much  as  did  the  unexplained 
mystery  of  what  Mervyn  really  saw  in  Welbeck's  cock-loft.^ 
*  Brown  was  a  realist  by  nature  and  a  terrorist  by  fashion. 
When  the  impulse  given  by  Caleb  Williams  had  spent  itself 
he  betook  himself,  in  Clara  Howard  and  Jane  Talbot,  to  a 
series  of  analytical  uneventful  letters. 

One  effect  of  Brown's  instinctive  realism  is  to  give  his  nar 
ratives  an  interest  to-day  which  they  can  hardly  have  had  at 
3-  the  time  of  their  publication,  for  they  give  some  idea  of  the 
life  of  America,  and  especially  of  Philadelphia,  at  that  period, 
t  The  injured  maidens,  the  hapless  orphans,  and  fair  fugitives, 
i  of  most  of  our  early  fiction  might  have  lived  in  Timbuctoo 
as  appropriately  as  in  New  York,  but  Brown's  men  and  women, 
even  if  not  very  real  themselves,  are  always  put  into  a  real  and 
visible  setting.  One  is  struck  by  the  activity  and  importance 
of  Philadelphia,  and  particularly  by  the  cosmopolitan  char 
acter  of  the  city,  which  appears  in  the  varied  nationalities 
of  Brown's  personages,  the  German  Wieland,  the  English 
Howard,  the  Greek  Martinette,  the  Italian  Clemenza  Lodi, 
the  Irish  Clithero,  the  Scottish  Balfour;  and  the  impression  is 
deepened  when  one  is  reminded  that  "  at  that  time  (about 
1793)  there  were  at  least  ten  thousand  French  in  this  city, 
fugitives  from  Marat  and  from  St.  Domingo." 

Brown's  most  obvious  debts  to  Godwin,  apart  from  the 
political  views  which  he  adopted,  and  the  autobiographic  form 
f>i  his  tales,  are  the  relation  of  patron  and  dependent,  the  char 
acter  of  the  gifted  self-taught  country  lad,  and  above  all  the 
hero  of  more  than  mortal  force  and  fascination,  the  individuality 
strangely  compounded  of  good  and  evil,  but  with  a  god-like 
ability  to  inspire  reverence  even  in  those  cognizant  of  its 
crimes.  The  cult  of  individuality  was,  of  course,  in  the  air  at 
the  time,  but  it  is  clearly  from  Godwin  that  Brown  derived  its 
application  to  fiction.  Brown  has  added  the  effect  of  breadth 
and  mystery  given  by  the  secret  political  activities  and  vague 
schemes  for  the  benefit  of  mankind  in  which  his  villains 


51 

are  engaged,  with  their  hints  of  a  regenerated  human  race, 
and  of  vague  lands  of  beauty  and  promise  beyond  the  pale  of 
the  civilized  and  the  known.  Godwin's  noble  man,  criminal 
through  circumstances,  has  become  criminal,  also,  by  a  delib 
erate  theory  of  good.  If  Brown  has  idealized  the  aims  gen 
erally  attributed  to  the  Illuminati,  while  adopting  the  mystery 
of  their  far-reaching  power,  he  has  not  hesitated  to  adopt 
their  indifference  to  the  employment  of  evil  means  if  the  end 
attained  be  good, — less  intent  on  pointing  a  moral  than  was 
Godwin,  he  had  a  more  vivid  sense  of  the  occasional  pic- 
turesqueness  of  iniquity. 

In  the  matter  of  style,  also,  Brown  was  early  influenced  by 
Godwin — not  greatly  to  his  advantage.  There  is  a  sad  re 
minder  of  Godwin's  pompously  prosaic  manner  in  the  de 
scription  of  Wieland's  conduct  on  seeing  the  flames,  and  hear 
ing  the  shrieks  which  accompanied  his  father's  mysterious 
death — "  the  incident  was  inexplicable,  but  he  could  not  fail 
to  perceive  the  propriety  of  hastening  to  the  spot." 

In  his  later  years  Brown's  enthusiasm  for  Godwin  seems  to 
have  cooled,  perhaps  like  his  Henry  Golden  he  was  inclined  to 
regard  it  as  an  incident  of  his  "  dogmatic  youth,"  but  his  debt 
to  Caleb  Williams  remains.  That  Godwin  was  not  unaware 
of  the  merits  of  his  disciple  appears  from  his  own  statement 
that  he  found  in  Brown's  first  novel  the  inspiration  for  one  of 
his  last.1  "  The  impression  which  first  led  me  to  look  with  an 
eye  of  favor  upon  the  subject  here  treated,"  he  says  in  the 
preface  to  Mandeville,  "  was  derived  from  a  story-book  called 
Wieland,  written  by  a  person  certainly  of  distinguished  genius, 
who,  I  believe,  was  born  and  died  in  the  province  of  Pennsyl 
vania,  in  the  United  States  of  North  America,  and  who  called 
himself  C.  B.  Brown." 

Strong  and  original  as  was  Brown's  work  it  did  not  estab 
lish  a  school  in  American  fiction.  The  only  one  of  his  con 
temporaries  who  showed  any  disposition  to  follow  in  his 

1  Margaret  Fuller  said  that  Brown  and  Godwin  were  congenial  natures 
and  that  "  whichever  had  come  first  might  have  lent  an  impulse  to  the 
other."  Both  were  "  Born  Hegelians."  Papers  on  Literature  and  Art. 
London,  1846,  p.  146. 


52 

footsteps  was  George  Watterston,  whose  first  story,  The 
Lawyer,  or  Man  as  he  ought  not  to  be  (1808),  a  dreary  tale  of 
a  very  small  and  mean-spirited  villain,  obviously  owes  its  title 
to  Bage.  Glencarn,  or  the  Disappointments  of  Youth  (1810), 
a  story  on  a  much  more  elaborate  plan,  shows  some  traces  of 
Brown's  influence,  particularly  in  the  use  of  ventriloquism,  but 
in  general  subject  the  tale  is  not  unlike  many  contemporary 
romances,  with  a  little  additional  salting  of  mystery  and  phi 
losophy.  It  has  as  much  in  common  with  Bage  as  with 
Brown,  and  has  little  new  machinery  except  the  hero's  ex 
periences  in  a  den  of  robbers. 

Whatever  fascination  the  schemes  of  the  Illuminati  may  have 
had  for  Charles  Brockden  Brown,  in  the  well  regulated  mind 
of  the  Maine  authoress  Mrs.  Sally  Sayward  Barrell  Keating 
Wood  they  inspired  only  abhorrence,  and  she  boldly  took  up 
the  pen  in  the  cause  of  piety  and  morality.  Her  first  novel, 
Julia  and  the  Illuminated  Baron  (1800),  proclaims  on  its  title 
page: 

"  This  volume  to  the  reader's  eye  displays 
Th'  infernal  conduct  of  abandoned  man ; 
When  French  Philosophy  infects  his  ways, 
And  pours  contempt  on  Heav'n's  eternal  plan ; 
Reversing  order,  truth,  and  ev'ry  good, 
And  whelming  worlds  with  ruin's  awful  flood." 

In  her  preface  Mrs.  Wood  disavows  any  intention  to  write 
a  political  novel,  saying  that  she  detests  "  female  politicians." 
And  it  is  not  as  political  schemers  that  the  Illuminati  appear 
in  her  tale,  but  as  promoters  of  atheism,  corrupters  of  youth 
ful  character,  and  general  agents  of  villainy.1  Mrs.  Wood 
had  a  fondness  for  placing  the  scene  of  her  tales  in  Europe, 
a  custom  very  unusual  in  our  early  fiction.  The  action  of 
Julia  passes  chiefly  in  France  and  Spain, — there  are  two  heirs 

1  In  England,  Sophia  King's  Waldorf,  or  the  Dangers  of  Philosophy 
(1798)  had  already  described,  according  to  the  Monthly  Review  (Vol. 
XXVI,  p.  221),  "a  young  man  of  talents  and  sensibility,  deluded  by  a 
modern  sceptic  into  a  total  renunciation  of  all  restraint  from  religion  and 
morality,  and  into  a  full  indulgence  of  his  favorite  passions." 

Tabitha  Tenney,  also,  exclaimed :  "  May  heaven  prevent  the  further 
progress  of  Jacobinism,  atheism,  and  illuminatism, — they  all  seem  to  be 
links  of  the  same  chain."  Female  Quixotism,  p.  70. 


53 

of  noble  houses  lost  in  infancy,  a  variety  of  villains,  murders, 
abductions,  and  countless  hair  breadth  escapes.  Two  very 
black  miscreants,  a  baron  who  is  the  leading  villain,  and  a 
count  almost  as  infamous,  are  members  of  the  Illuminati;  the 
latter  at  the  age  of  fifteen  had  been  put  into  the  charge  of  an 
Illuminatus,  "  one  of  the  worst  of  men,"  who  so  trained  his 
pupil  that  before  the  boy  was  twenty  years  old  he  had  com 
mitted  crimes  at  which  even  his  tutor  shuddered. 

Mrs.  Wood's  next  novel,  Dorval,  or  the  Speculator,  has  be 
come  practically  inaccessible.  Its  title  suggests  that  it  may 
have  been  another  anti-philosophic  warning.  The  three  books 
which  followed,  Ferdinand  and  Elmira,  a  Russian  Story 
(1804),  Amelia,  or  the  Influence  of  Virtue  (1802),  and  Tales 
of  the  Night  (1827),  are  of  no  particular  interest,  either  to 
the  student  or  to  the  modern  reader. 

Brown's  scorn  of  "puerile  superstitions  and  exploded  man 
ners,  Gothic  castles  and  Chimeras  "  was  not  shared  by  all  his 
countrymen.  In  the  year  after  his  death  appeared  a  romance 
in  the  true  Radcliffian  spirit,  entitled  The  Asylum,  or  Alonzo 
and  Melissa  by  I.  Mitchell,  of  Poughkeepsie,  a  man  of  much 
journalistic  experience.  In  the  same  year  appeared  a  con 
densed  and  revised  version,  in  which  the  work  is  attributed  to 
Daniel  Jackson,  Jr.,  then  a  young  school  teacher  in  Plattsburgh, 
where  this  edition  was  printed.  The  question  of  the  true 
authorship  of  this  interesting  narrative  has  recently  been 
clouded  in  controversy,1  both  Mitchell  and  Jackson  having 
found  partisans.  The  fact,  however,  that  Mitchell's  version 
was  copyrighted  December  2,  1810,  and  that  the  Jackson  ver 
sion  did  not  appear  until  1811,  seems  fairly  conclusive  evidence 
that  the  Jackson  version,  which  was  not  copyrighted,  was  the 
later.  The  best  known  early  edition  is  that  of  Brattleboro, 
1824,  which  like  all  editions,  except  that  of  Poughkeepsie  1811, 

1  For  details  of  this  controversy,  which  seems  to  have  been  started  in 
connection  with  a  symposium  on  ghost  stories,  see  The  New  York  Times 
Saturday  Review  of  Books,  June  4,  1904,  June  n,  1904,  Sept.  3,  1904, 
Sept.  17,  1904,  Jan.  21,  1905,  Jan.  28,  1905,  March  4,  1905.  The  New 
York  Evening  Post,  Dec.  10,  1904  (with  an  account  of  Mitchell's  life), 
Dec.  31,  1904,  Feb.  3,  1905.  The  Nation,  Dec.  8,  1904.  Booknotes  (Provi 
dence,  R.  I.),  Jan.  14,  1905,  Feb.  n,  1905,  March  25,  1905. 


54 

follows  the  shortened  form,  omitting  the  long  episodical  his 
tory  of  the  Berger  family  and  the  "  Preface  comprising  a  Short 
Dissertation  on  Novel."  In  later  editions  this  preface,  which 
is  interesting  for  its  criticism  of  contemporary  fiction,  is  re 
duced  to  a  page  and  a  half  of  good  intentions,  maintaining  the 
original  declaration  of  an  aim  to  inculcate  a  firm  reliance  on 
Providence.  The  author  adds  that  "  the  story  contains  no 
indecorous  stimulants ;  nor  is  it  filled  with  unmeaning  and  in- 
explicated  incidents,  sounding  on  the  sense,  but  imperceptible 
to  the  understanding." 

The  opening  scene1  shows  the  young  Alonzo,  a  Yale  stu 
dent,  and  the  still  younger  Melissa,  sister  of  his  friend  Edgar, 
sitting  on  a  rock  at  New  London,  viewing  the  "  drapery  of 
nature,"  while  "  the  whipperwill's  sprightly  song  echoed  along 
the  adjacent  groves."  Little  is  said  upon  this  occasion,  but 
the  impression  is  deep ;  and  when  Melissa  at  a  later  meeting 
says  "  I  shall  never  forget  the  sweet  pensive  scenery  of  my 
native  rock," — "  'Nor  I,  neither/  said  Alonzo  with  a  deep 
drawn  sigh." 

In  these  early  pages  much  space  is  given  to  the  description 
of  nature.  Although  the  author  is  fond  of  the  daylight  hours, 
in  which  birds  of  gaudy  plumage  "  symphoniously  carolled 
the  lay  of  nature,"  he  is,  perhaps,  at  his  best  in  evening  scenes. 
Alonzo's  bliss  as  the  accepted  lover  of  Melissa  is  of  short 
duration.  His  father  suddenly  loses  his  fortune ;  whereupon 
Melissa's  heartless  parent  orders  her  to  think  no  more  of 
Alonzo,  but  to  transfer  her  affections  to  his  affluent  rival, 
Beauman.  When  Melissa  persists  in  her  loyalty  to  Alonzo, 
she  is  immured  in  a  species  of  Gothic  castle,  "  situated  about 
one  hundred  perches  from  the  Sound,"  under  the  care  of  her 
spinster  aunt,  Miss  Martha,  a  rough  comedy  character  in 
herited  from  the  eighteenth  century  novelists.  Here  Melissa 
is  left  alone  during  the  night.  Then  Radcliffian  disturbances 
begin.  The  first  night  she  hears  mysterious  noises  and 
whispers,  and  feels  an  icy  hand  laid  on  her  arm.  The  next 
night  the  whispers  become  voices  quarreling  and  menacing, 

aThis  brief  account  of  the  contents  of  the  tale  follows  the  1824  version 
which  has  become  the  accepted  form  of  the  story. 


55 

and  finally  rise  to  shrieks  of  "  Murder !  "  A  flash  of  light  shows 
in  her  room  a  tall  figure  "  wrapped  in  a  tattered  white  robe 
spotted  with  blood.  The  hair  of  its  head  was  matted  with 
clotted  gore.  A  deep  wound  appeared  to  have  pierced  its 
breast,  while  fresh  blood  flowed  down  its  garment.  Its  pale 
face  was  gashed  and  gory ;  its  eyes  fixed,  glazed,  and  glaring ; 
its  lips  open ;  its  teeth  set ;  and  in  its  hand  was  a  bloody 
dagger."  When  Melissa  attempts  to  flee,  her  way  is  barred 
by  a  black  figure,  in  human  shape,  with  red  flames  issuing 
from  its  mouth.  A  large  ball  of  fire  rolls  through  the  hall 
and  explodes.  The  next  day  Alonzo  appears,  driven  to  seek 
shelter  from  a  storm  as  he  passes  in  search  of  Melissa.  He 
crosses  the  moat  on  a  tree-trunk  which  the  lightning  has 
overthrown.  Later  he  departs  to  seek  aid,  leaving  Melissa 
in  the  castle.  When  he  returns  she  has  vanished.  After 
further  search,  interrupted  by  illness,  Alonzo  sees  in  a  news 
paper  the  announcement  of  Melissa's  death  at  the  house  of  her 
uncle  in  South  Carolina. 

The  disconsolate  lover  decides  to  devote  his  blighted  exist 
ence  to  his  country,  the  Revolutionary  War  being  then  in 
progress,  and  enters  the  marine  corps.  On  his  first  voyage 
he  is  captured  and  is  thrown  into  prison,  whence  he  escapes 
by  a  rope  made  of  his  clothing.  For  a  time  he  is  sheltered 
by  a  sailor  of  the  conventional,  bluff,  hearty,  shiver-my-timbers 
variety,  whose  aggressively  nautical  vocabulary  is  the  outer 
accompaniment  of  a  noble  nautical  heart,  and  by  his  aid  is 
smuggled  over  to  France.  There,  through  Franklin's  aid,  he 
finds  employment.  His  life  of  mournful  solitude  is  inter 
rupted  when  he  finds  in  the  street  a  miniature.  The  next  day 
he  sees  an  advertisement  requesting  that  the  picture  be  re 
turned  to  an  American  hotel  near  the  Louvre.  "  Determined 
to  explicate  the  mystery  "  he  goes  thither ;  he  finds  Edgar,  and 
they  mourn  together. 

Soon  after,  however,  Alonzo  is  moved  by  the  patriotic  ex 
hortations  of  Franklin  to  return  to  his  country  and  his  father. 
At  the  first  opportunity  he  visits  Charleston,  and  there  seeks 
the  stone  sacred  to  the  memory  of  Miss  Melissa  D.,  "  whose 
ethereal  part  became  a  seraph,  October  26,  1776."  Alonzo  is 


56 

overcome  with  grief,  "  he  clasped  the  green  turf  which  enclosed 
her  grave,  he  watered  it  with  his  tears,  he  warmed  it  with  his 
sighs."  The  next  day  a  young  officer  tells  him  that  his  sister, 
who  once  saw  in  a  dream  the  man  destined  to  win  her  love, 
has  recognized  in  Alonzo  the  man  of  the  vision.  He  suggests 
that  Alonzo  might  find  the  lady  worthy  of  his  regard,  but 
Alonzo  is  firm  in  his  loyalty  to  the  departed  Melissa.  He  is, 
however,  prevailed  upon  to  visit  the  lady,  who  appears  arrayed 
in  a  sky  blue  silk  gown,  adorned  with  spangled  lace  and  jewels ; 
a  green  silk  veil  conceals  her  face.  She  draws  the  veil  aside, 
and  the  transported  Alonzo  beholds  the  real,  the  original 
Melissa.  In  their  joy  "their  tears  fell  in  one  intermingled 
shower,  their  sighs  wafted  in  one  blended  breeze."  It  is  sub 
sequently  explained  that  the  dead  Melissa  was  the  cousin  of 
Alonzo's  beloved,  and  that  the  Connecticut  Melissa  had  allowed 
her  death  to  be  reported  in  order  to  foil  her  tyrannical  father. 
The  ghostly  apparitions  were  robbers,  who  made  the  old  house 
their  headquarters,  and  wished  to  discourage  interruptions. 
"  And  now,  reader  of  sensibility,"  the  author  concludes,  "  in 
dulge  the  pleasing  sensations  of  thy  bosom — for  Alonzo  and 
Melissa  are  MARRIED." 

What  is  most  striking  about  this  tale,  apart  from  its  aston 
ishing  longevity,  is  the  abundance  and  elaborateness  of  its 
descriptions  of  scenery.  In  these  descriptions  the  Thomson- 
ian  and  the  Radcliffian  nature  vocabularies  are  strangely  com 
bined;  while  a  zealous  patriotism  strives  to  give  local  color 
by  the  constant  mention  of  American  plants  and  birds,  fre 
quently  garnishing  the  page  with  explanatory  footnotes  full 
of  botanical  and  entomological  information. 

The  whole  effect  is  one  of  the  greatest  naivete,  and  the  tale, 
viewed  as  the  only  American  product  of  Mrs.  Radcliffe's  influ 
ence,  seems  an  inadequate  representative  of  her  school.1  Yet 
it  has  gone  through  many  editions,  and  is  probably  known 
to-day  to  many  who  have  never  read  The  Mysteries  of 

1  The  reaction  against  the  Gothic  tale  is  represented  however,  by  The 
Hero  or  the  Adventures  of  a  Night,  suggested,  perhaps,  by  The  Heroine. 
The  Hero  is  ingeniously  made  up  by  stringing  together  phrases  and  pas 
sages  from  the  most  popular  Gothic  novels. 


57 

Udolpho.  When  one  considers  the  quantity  of  the  Gothic 
output  in  England  one  wonders  that  the  type  should  not 
have  been  more  cultivated  here.  The  reason,  perhaps,  f 
is  to  be  found  in  the  somewhat  aggressive  patriotism  of 
the  period,  which,  from  the  first,  caused  American  fiction  to 
concern  itself  almost  exclusively  with  American  subjects,  to 
which  the  mediaeval  machinery  of  Mrs.  Radcliffe  was  not 
appropriate.  It  was,  of  course,  possible  to  erect  a  Gothic 
castle  on  the  shores  of  Long  Island  Sound,  but  not  even  the 
ingenuity  of  a  Jackson  or  a  Mitchell  could  make  it  seem  an 
appropriate  addition  to  the  landscape. 

The  question  of  the  importance  of  the  Gothic  novel  in  early 
American  fiction  thus  reduces  itself  to  the  importance  of 
Charles  Brockden  Brown.  Like  all  contemporary  American 
novelists  Brown  sought,  as  was  inevitable,  his  inspiration  in 
British  literature.  It  is  probable  that  the  popular  German 
novels  and  dramas  of  horror  were  of  some  influence  in  strength 
ening  the  hold  which  the  tale  of  heroic  villainy  and  mysteri 
ous  crime  had  obtained  over  his  imagination.  But  Caleb 
Williams  furnished  the  actual  incentive  to  his  criminal  tales. 
He  differed  from  his  contemporaries,  however,  in  that  he 
modified  the  ideas  thus  borrowed,  and  added  material  of  his 
own.  To  a  certain  extent  he  realized  the  general  desire  for 
novels  reflecting  native  manners.  His  stories  have  as  setting 
the  real  life  of  his  time, — but  it  is  only  a  setting.  In  Edgar 
Huntly  he  went  further  and  devoted  a  large  part  of  his  book 
to  wilderness  life  and  Indian  adventures,  yet  he  still  put  for 
ward  a  mysterious  crime  as  the  motive  of  his  tale,  and  thus 
persistently  identified  himself  with  the  short-lived  school  of 
terror. 

Whether  Brown  might  have  done  work  of  great  and  sus 
tained  excellence,  if  his  life  had  fallen  in  a  period  when  fiction 
offered  more  sober  influences  and  better  models,  is  a  question 
which  cannot  be  answered.  As  it  is,  he  remains  an  inter 
esting,  but,  as  far  as  novel-writing  is  concerned,  an  isolated, 
figure  in  the  American  literature  of  his  time.  Although  on 
the  one  hand  he  fulfilled  in  many  respects  the  aims  of  contem 
porary  American  novelists,  and  although  on  the  other  he  intro- 


58 

duced  to  America  the  fashion  then  prevailing  in  British  fic--> 
tion, — yet  he  had  no  imitators  in  his  genre,  and  he  exerted  no  r 
immediate  influence  on  American  fiction.  In  the  general  his 
tory  of  American  literature  he  has,  however,  always  held  an 
important  place.  The  influence  on  many  greater  writers  which 
has  been  ascribed  to  him  is  in  itself  a  claim  to  consideration. 
And  he  has  always  found  readers  to  whom  his  emotional  in 
tensity  and  his  command  of  certain  effects  of  terror  have  com 
pensated  for  his  lack  of  construction  and  characterization.1  In 
the  history  of  early  American  fiction  his  peculiar  importance 
comes  from  the  fact  that  he  is  the  earliest  American  novelist 
who  has  won  reputation  and  influence  outside  his  own  country. 

1  For  varying  estimates  of  Brown's  work  see  The  Gentleman's  Magazine, 
April,  1811.  The  North  American  Review,  1819,  Vol.  IX,  p.  63  and  p.  26. 
Blackwood's  Edinburgh  Magazine,  Vol.  VI,  February,  1820.  The  Retro 
spective  Review,  1824,  Vol.  IX,  p.  305.  S.  Margaret  Fuller,  Papers  on 
Literature  and  Art,  London,  1846.  William  H.  Prescott,  Biographical  and 
Critical  Miscellanies,  Philadelphia,  1882.  Rufus  Wilmot  Griswold,  Prose 
Writers  of  America,  London,  1847.  T.  W.  Higginson  in  American  Prose 
(edited  by  G.  R.  Carpenter),  1898.  The  Fortnightly  Review,  London,  1878, 
New  Ser.,  Vol.  XXIV,  p.  397.  T.  L.  Peacock,  Gryll  Grange,  London,  1896, 
p.  277. 


CHAPTER   III 
EARLY  HISTORICAL  NOVELS  AND  INDIAN  TALES 

AMONG  the  many  types  and  varieties  of  fiction  produced  in 
England  toward  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century  the  histor 
ical  novel  is  conspicuous.  Like  most  of  their  contemporaries 
the  historical  tales  of  this  period  have  little  or  no  literary  merit, 
yet  they  derive  a  certain  interest  from  their  suggestiveness  as 
"  signs  of  the  times,"  from  their  contact  with  many  of  the 
new  interests  and  ideas  of  their  day. 

The  term  "  historical  novel "  seems  to  have  been  of  wide  and 
somewhat  uncertain  application.1  Authors  mix  their  fiction 
and  their  history  in  varying  proportions,  but  there  seems  to 
have  been  a  general  feeling  that  a  "  historical  novel "  must 
introduce,  in  some  way,  either  persons  or  events  of  historical 
importance  and  generally,  although  not  necessarily,  remote  in 
time.  Apart  from  this  introduction  of  well  known  names, 
however,  they  follow  no  fixed  plan.  Some  are  closely  allied 
to  the  stories  of  travel  and  adventure  popular  in  that  day; 
some  are  tales  of  seduction  or  of  romantic  affection  garnished 
with  noble  names ;  many  show  a  close  kinship  with  the  Gothic 
enormities  of  Mrs.  Radcliffe;  while  the  more  serious  minded 
deliberately  undertake  to  reproduce  the  manners  and  customs 
of  past  ages  for  the  edification  of  the  modern  reader.  Thus 
they  represent,  always  crudely,  it  is  true,  and  sometimes  ludi 
crously,  many  of  the  main  interests  of  romantic  and  revolu 
tionary  thought,  the  love  of  adventure,  the  idealization  of  the 
past,  the  taste,  half  sentimental,  half  antiquarian,  for  archi 
tectural  monuments  and  ancient  customs,  the  power  to  perceive 
life  and  color  in  the  pages  of  history. 

To  the  early  American  novelists,  who  were  laboring  zeal 
ously  to  give  their  country  a  fiction  of  its  own,  the  need  for 

1  For  a  discussion  of  the  historical  novel  as  an  established  type,  see 
Brander  Matthews,  The  Historical  Novel  and  Other  Essays. 

59 


60 

an  independent  historical  fiction  must  have  presented  a  difficult 
problem.  America  had  no  convenient  feudal  past  in  the  de 
scription  of  which  the  jangling  of  armour,  the  gloom  of  an 
cient  castles,  and  a  liberal  use  of  such  phrases  as  "  sir  knight," 
could  combine  with  the  pleasing  roll  of  Norman  names  and 
titles  to  atone  for  the  absence  of  more  definite  historical  infor 
mation.  Everything  in  her  history  was  too  defined,  too  pain 
fully  recent.  No  one  ventured  to  suggest  that  the  vicissitudes 
of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  could  be  made  the  subject  of  light  and 
profane  literature.  There  remained  only  the  Revolution  and 
the  Indians.  Some  aspiring  authors  probably  agreed  with 
Mitchell  that  the  events  of  the  Revolution  were  "  too  recent  to 
be  arrayed  in  the  vesture  of  fiction."  Others,  however,  em 
ployed  them  as  the  background  of  their  romances,  or  more 
boldly  attempted  to  weave  them  into  the  tale  itself. 

The  appearance  of  the  Indian  in  fiction  is  due  to  other  cur 
rents  of  contemporary  thought,  rather  than  to  the  quickening 
of  the  historical  sense.  Close  as  is  its  relationship  with  the 
growing  interest  in  out-of-door  life,  the  development  of  the 
Indian  as  a  romantic  figure  is  still  more  a  result  of  the  ten 
dency  to  idealize  the  virtues  of  primitive  man,  and  to  contrast 
the  virtues  of  man  in  his  natural  state  with  the  vices  of  a 
degenerate  civilization.  Voltaire's  Ingenu  is,  of  course,  an 
extreme  example  of  the  latter  tendency, — Voltaire  was  not  at 
all  interested  in  him  as  an  example  of  Indian  culture,  but 
simply  as  a  means  to  exhibit  the  errors  of  contemporary  France. 
The  taste  of  the  later  eighteenth  century,  however,  led  to  a 
more  romantic  and  less  didactic  treatment  of  this  contrast,  and 
the  Indian  began  to  be  idealized  for  his  own  sake,  and  as  a 
part  of  the  picturesqueness  of  the  forest  and  the  wilderness. 

The  early  attempts  toward  historical  fiction  in  America,  and 
the  efforts  to  give  the  Indian  a  place  in  literature,  obviously, 
therefore,  cannot  always  be  traced  to  the  same  source,  but  they 
often  overlap  each  other  and  may  conveniently  be  considered 
together,  both  for  that  reason  and  because,  few  and  feeble  as 
these  early  productions  are,  they  make  the  first  step  toward  the 
goal  which  American  novelists  had  sought  from  the  first — the 
discovery  of  a  distinctive  and  national  material  for  American 
fiction. 


61 

The  oldest  really  American  tale  of  the  Revolution  is  Amelia, 
or  the  Faithless  Briton.  Although  not  published  in  book  form 
until  1798,  it  had  appeared  in  the  Massachusetts  Magazine  in 
1789,  and  in  the  New  York  Magazine  in  1795.  It  is  said,  in 
its  preface,  to  be  "  the  first  of  a  series  of  novels  drawn  from 
the  same  source,  and  intended  for  public  communication;  but 
as  the  author's  object  is  merely  to  glean  those  circumstances 
in  the  progress  of  the  Revolution  which  the  historian  has 
neither  leisure  nor  disposition  to  communicate,  and  to  produce, 
from  the  annals  of  private  life,  something  to  entertain  and 
something  to  improve  his  readers,  the  occasion  will  yield  little 
to  hope  from  the  applause  of  the  public  and  nothing  to  dread 
from  its  candor."  The  tale,  which  is  aptly  described  by  its 
author  as  "  a  history  of  female  affliction,"  has  little  attempt  at 
history.  The  Revolution  fades  into  the  dimmest  of  back 
grounds,  and  the  story  is  devoted  to  one  of  the  histories  of 
seduction,  too  common  in  the  fiction  of  the  time. 

Although  written  in  the  French  language  by  a  Frenchman,        > 
Miss  Mac  Rae,  by  Milliard  d'Auberteuil,1  described  on  its  title  I/ 
page  as  a  "  Roman  Historique,"  may  fairly  be  included  in  a 
discussion  of  the  early  American  novel,  for  it  is  the  first  novel 
both  written  and  published  in  America,  having  appeared  at 
Philadelphia  in  1784,  and  it  is  one  of  the  earliest  novels  dealing 
with  the  Revolution.2     It  was  printed  in  Philadelphia,  put  on 
sale  in  Paris,  and  was  favorably  reviewed  in  the  Revue  de 
Paris  for  July  n,  1784.     The  advertisement  prefixed  to  the      t 
work  declares  that  the  tale  offers  a  picture  in  which  one  sees 
"  ce  que  la  guerre  a  de  plus  brillant  et  de  plus  affreux,  enfin 
des  descriptions  d'un  sol  riche  et  nouveau,  qui  attirera  long- 
temps  les  regards  des  nations  Europeennes."     The  author  claims 
that  the  story  is  true  but  the  details  his  own ;  he  has  placed  in 

1  Michel  Rene  Hilliard  d'Auberteuil  was  born  in   Rennes  in   1751,   and 
died  in  St.  Domingo  in  1785.     There  were  various  mysterious  rumors  about 
his  death,  one  being  that  he  had  been  assassinated  at  the  instigation  of  a 
rival   economist.     Among  his   works   are  Essais  Historiques  et  Politiques 
sur  les  Anglo- Americains,  Bruxelles,  1782.     Histoire  de  I' Administration  de 
Lord  North   depuis   1770  jusqu'en   1782   e't   de   I'Amerique  Septentrionale, 
London  and  Paris,  1784. 

2  For  an  early  treatment  of  the  Revolution  in  British  fiction  see  Emma 
Corbett,  or  the  Miseries  of  Civil  War,  Newburyport,  n.  d.   (Dublin,  1780). 


62 

contrast  "  la  ferocite  des  sauvages  et  les  vertus  de  leurs  chefs, 
1'innocence  Ameriquaine  et  les  vices  de  1'Europe."  The  story 
is  divided  into  three  books,  each  headed  by  a  summary  of  its 
contents. 

The  opening  scene,  on  the  island  of  "  Manahattam,"  de 
scribes  the  horror  and  devastation  of  the  English  occupation, 
and  recalls  the  ancient  prosperity  of  the  city.  The  reader 
is  then  introduced  to  Miss  Jenny  Mac  Rae,  alone  in  her  father's 
house,  "  les  cheveux  epars  et  les  mains  elevees  vers  le  ciel," 
offering  a  prayer  for  protection.  This  prayer  is  given  in  full ; 
a  footnote  explains  that  Americans  in  general  are  "  tres  pieux," 
and  accustomed  to  use  the  language  of  the  Bible,  and  to  quote 
passages  from  it,  in  all  their  discourse,  and  that  their  wives 
and  daughters  are  "  pareillement  nourries  des  sentences  de 
1'ecriture."  "  L'auteur,"  it  is  said,  "  a  cru  devoir  mettre  autant 
de  verite  dans  le  style  qu'il  leur  prete  que  dans  la  peinture 
de  leurs  moeurs."  The  prayer  is  interrupted  by  the  stormy 
entrance  of  several  British  soldiers  led  by  Captain  Belton,  who 
at  once  begins  to  pay  compliments  to  Jenny.  That  pious  young 
lady,  being  at  the  discerning  age  of  sixteen,  promptly  falls  in 
love  with  him.  Belton  suddenly  swoons.  Although  the  young 
officer  is  wounded,  the  author  assures  us  that  "  son  evanouisse- 
ment  provenait  moins  de  tout  le  sang  qu'il  avait  perdu  que 
du  coup  que  1'amour  venait  de  frapper  dans  son  ame."  While 
Jenny  is  binding  up  his  wounds  her  father  arrives  and  bids 
her  beware  of  the  charms  of  the  hostile  officers,  declaring  that 
"  ces  vils  agents  de  la  tyrannic  de  1'Europe  n'ont  rien  d'humain 
que  la  figure." 

Mac  Rae  passes  the  night  in  reciting  texts  and  Jenny  in 
thinking  of  Belton.  Morning  reveals  new  horrors.  The 
English  move  against  Washington,  and  Jenny  sees  the  army 
march  past, — a  sight  so  impressive  that  subsequently  recalling 
it  she  remarks  that  "  le  bruit  de  leurs  instruments  ressemble  an 
concert  que  les  cherubins  reservent  pour  le  Dieu  des  combats, 
et  le  bel  ordre  de  leurs  bataillons  est  comparable  a  celui  de 
1'armee  celeste  lorsqu'elle  passe  la  revue  avant  de  dompter  les 
esprits  orgueilleux."  Fire  and  massacre  follow  at  night,  but 
the  Mac  Raes  escape  to  their  country  house  near  Albany. 


63 

Mac  Rae,  desperate  at  the  news  of  British  successes,  raises 
a  company  and  goes  to  the  war.  Because  Jenny  continues  to 
sympathize  with  the  English,  her  former  friends  avoid  her  as 
a  suspected  "Torry."  Her  father's  letters  describe  Washing 
ton's  successes  at  Trenton  and  Princeton,  and  order  her  to 
assemble  the  neighbors  to  hear  the  news.  Jenny  seizes  the 
occasion  to  make  a  speech  which  converts  many  to  the  English 
cause.  She  keeps  up  communication  with  Belton  through  the 
aid  of  her  maid  Betty,  an  artful  person,  much  given  to  describ 
ing  the  luxury  of  London  life.  Betty,  who  has  lived  among 
the  savages,  employs  as  messenger  an  Indian,  ostensibly  a  fur 
seller,  but  in  reality  a  spy  for  both  armies.  Belton,  after 
amusing  his  friends  with  her  letters,  leaves  the  task  of  replying 
to  his  valet.  Jenny  persists  in  her  devotion,  in  spite  of  evi 
dence  of  the  British  officer's  faithlessness.  As  a  final  warning 
she  hears  the  mocking  bird,  which,  in  the  author's  opinion, 
unites  "  les  talents  du  rossignol  et  du  perroquet,"  distinctly 
pronounce  the  words  "  Malheureuse  Emilia !  Ah !  Belton !  " 
and  finds,  exhausted  on  the  ground,  a  young  woman  dressed 
as  an  English  soldier.  This  girl,  the  tamer  of  the  mocking 
bird,  proves  to  be  a  discarded  love  of  Belton.  Notwithstand 
ing  this  incident,  Jenny  at  once  complies  with  his  request  to 
join  him  at  the  camp  near  Saratoga,  and  sets  out  with  a  maid 
and  a  man  servant.  The  party  falls  in  with  Burgoyne's  Mo 
hawks,  the  author  thus  finding  an  opportunity  to  denounce  the 
English  method  of  employing  Indians  for  massacre  and  pillage. 
The  servants  are  killed  and  Jenny  tied  to  a  tree.  Kiashuta, 
a  renowned  chief,  arrives  and  defends  her,  at  first  with  elo 
quence  and  afterward  with  a  club,  but  the  hapless  maiden  is 
slain  by  an  axe.  Touched  by  Kiashuta's  tears,  the  savages 
prepare  for  her  an  ornate  rustic  tomb.  Kiashuta  hastens  to 
the  camp  and  seeks  out  Belton.  " '  Voila,'  lui  dit  il,  en  lui 
presentant  la  chevelure  de  Jenny, '  ce  qui  reste  de  ta  maitresse.'  " 
As  the  white  man  declines  to  commit  suicide,  Kiashuta  kills 
himself,  that  the  beautiful  Jenny  may  not  be  obliged  to  go 
unaccompanied  "  dans  1'ile  heureuse."  The  story  of  Jenny's 
death  causes  General  Gates  to  write  to  General  Burgoyne,  re 
proaching  him  for  the  use  of  savages  in  the  war.  The  latter 


64 

replies  that  a  rebellion  is  not  a  war  and  that,  consequently,  any 
means  to  quell  it  are  justifiable. 

A  more  cheerful  and  animated  tale,  not  claiming  the  dig 
nified  title  of  historical  novel,  but  placing  the  scene  of  its 
adventures  in  the  Revolutionary  War,  is  the  History  of  Con 
stantius  and  Pulchera,  or  Constancy  Rewarded  (1797),  which 
illustrates  the  relationship  sometimes  existing  between  the 
novel  of  adventurous  travel  and  the  semi-historical  novel.  In 
its  cheerful  conglomeration  of  improbabilities  it  agreeably  sug 
gests  a  prophetic  caricature  of  the  modern  tale  of  adventure. 
The  story  opens  with  a  balcony  scene  in  Philadelphia,  in  which 
Pulchera,  soliloquizing,  assures  herself  that  before  she  could 
eradicate  the  charms  of  Constantius  from  her  heart,  "  the  ada 
mant  would  vegetate."  Constantius  appears,  and  hears  from 
his  beloved  that  she  is  locked  in  by  her  inexorable  parent,  and 
is  to  sail  for  Europe  the  next  day  as  the  bride  of  a  Frenchman. 
"  Constantius,"  the  author  relates,  "  was  on  the  rack  at  this 
fatal  intelligence,  in  despair  he  drew  his  sword  and  was  on 
the  eve  of  falling  on  the  point,  thereby  putting  a  period  to  an 
existence  which  he  could  no  longer  consider  a  blessing,  but 
fortune,  which  always  favors  the  virtuous,  suggested  to  his 
mind  a  tow-line  which  he  had  that  day  observed  in  his  shop." 
By  the  aid  of  this  rope  Pulchera  escapes ;  but  the  lovers  have 
not  proceeded  far  in  their  flight  when  Constantius  is  seized 
by  an  English  press-gang.  Pulchera  is  forced  to  embark  for 
France;  her  ship  is  captured  by  an  English  vessel,  and  she  is 
overjoyed  at  finding  Constantius  among  the  crew, — "  Nor  were 
the  sensations  of  Constantius  less  nervous  at  beholding  his 
adored  Pulchera."  Their  felicity,  however,  is  short-lived;  a 
storm  arises ;  the  ship  is  abandoned,  and  in  the  confusion  Pul 
chera  is  left  behind.  When  the  ship  breaks  up,  a  floating 
hatch  conveys  her  to  an  uninhabited  island  whence  she  is  taken 
off  by  an  American  privateer,  only  to  be  again  captured,  after 
having  put  on  a  lieutenant's  uniform  and  assumed  the  name 
of  Valorus.  While  making  for  Quebec  the  ship  is  wrecked 
on  the  cliffs  in  a  snow  storm,  and  the  crew  scatters  in  small 
parties  to  explore  the  country.  Snow  having  fallen  "to  the 
immoderate  depth  of  four  or  five  feet,"  they  are  unable  to 


65 

find  food.  It  becomes  necessary  to  cast  lots  to  decide  who 
shall  die  in  order  to  furnish  sustenance  for  the  rest.  The  lot, 
of  course,  falls  on  the  disguised  damsel ;  but  the  timely  appear 
ance  of  a  bear  preserves  her  for  further  adventures.  After 
wintering  in  the  ice-bound  ship  they  are  taken  off  by  a  Massa 
chusetts  privateer.  Valorus  is  put,  as  prize-master,  on  board 
a  brigantine  which  is  captured  by  the  privateer,  but  the  next 
day  her  ship  is  seized  by  a  British  cruiser.  She  is  thrown  into 
a  dungeon  in  Halifax,  but,  in  company  with  other  prisoners, 
manages  to  crawl  out  through  a  drain  and  to  escape  in  a  small 
boat  to  a  vessel  bound  for  London.  From  London  she  embarks 
for  Lisbon,  and  thence  for  France.  In  Bordeaux  she  finds  that 
Constantius,  whose  name  was  apparently  bestowed  by  the  au 
thor  in  a  moment  of  unconscious  irony,  is  about  to  marry  the 
sister  of  her  former  suitor.  She  summons  him  to  her  inn,  how 
ever,  and  there  he  finds  his  Pulchera,  "  decked  in  all  the  mag 
nificence  which  the  city  of  Bordeaux  could  afford."  The  re 
marks  of  Constantius  on  this  occasion  are  worthy  of  quotation : 
"  O  transcendently  propitious  heaven !  thrice  bountiful,  inex 
haustible,  magnificent  Providence!  inexpressible,  benevolent, 
and  superlatively  beneficent  fates !  The  most  exalted  language 
is  more  than  infinitely  too  inexpressive  to  give  an  idea  of  the 
grateful  sensations  which  occupy  my  breast."  They  return  to 
Philadelphia  and  there  live — "the  greatest  ornaments  of  the 
married  state." 

The  martial  exploits  of  Pulchera  are  surpassed,  however, 
by  the  heroine  of  the  Female  Review  (1793),  described  by  her 
biographer  as  a  "  paradigm  of  female  Enterprise."  The  au 
thor  says  that  he  has  told  the  story  of  a  real  person,  interspers 
ing  a  series  of  moral  reflections,  and  attempting  some  literary 
and  historical  information.  He  has,  he  assures  the  reader, 
"  studiously  endeavored  to  ameliorate  every  circumstance  that 
might  seem  too  much  tinctured  with  the  rougher  masculine  vir 
tues  .  .  .  with  a  diction  softened  and  comported  to  the 
taste  of  the  virtuous  female."  The  preface  ends  with  a 
patriotic  declaration  that  "  Europe  has  exhibited  its  chivalry 
and  wonders.  It  now  remains  for  America  to  do  the  same." 

The  tale,  after  "a  laconic  history  of  Miss  Sampson's  extrac- 

6 


66 

tion,"  describes  the  condition  of  the  country  at  the  outbreak  of 
the  Revolution,  "  the  Earth  seemed  to  precipitate  her  diurnal 
revolution  and  to  leave  the  sun  in  frightful  aspect.  The  shep 
herd's  flocks  stood  aghast.  Birds  forgot  to  carol  and  hastened 
away  with  astonished  muteness."  Miss  Sampson  assumes 
man's  attire  and  enlists.  Among  the  soldiers  she  is  known 
as  "  the  blooming  boy."  The  rest  of  the  book  is  given  up  to 
the  heroic  deeds  of  this  "  gallantress  "  who  survives  every 
conceivable  peril  and  hardship, — although  her  chronicler  re 
marks  of  the  battle  of  Yorktown  that  "  this  business  came  near 
proving  too  much  for  a  female  in  her  teens."  As  in  Miss 
Mac  Roe,  much  indignation  is  felt  at  the  part  played  in  the 
war  by  the  Indians,  who  are  usually  referred  to  as  "the  in- 
fernals."  After  the  war  is  over  the  heroine  has  further  experi 
ence  of  Indian  perfidy,  for  while  on  an  expedition  in  the  Ohio 
country  she  is  obliged  to  kill  her  murderous  Indian  guide. 
The  book  is  full  of  enthusiasm  for  Washington  and  of  a  some 
what  lurid  patriotism.  At  the  end  are  copies  of  Miss  Samp 
son's  discharge  from  the  army  and  other  documents. 

In  addition  to  the  occasional  appearance  of  the  Indian  in 
these  attempted  historical  novels,  he  is  the  central  figure  of 
a  large  group  of  stories.  The  magazines  of  the  time  show  in 
anecdotes,  short  stories,  and  accounts  of  customs  and  manners, 
a  general  interest  in  the  Indian  and,  to  a  less  extent,  in  the 
negro.1  Humanitarian  zeal  for  the  negro  had  little  effect  on 
fiction,  but  the  widespread  curiosity,  and  occasional  sympathy, 
aroused  by  the  Indian's  more  romantic  possibilities  inspired  a 
considerable  number  of  very  curious  tales. 

In  Mrs.  Ann  Eliza  Bleecker's  History  of  Maria  Kettle,  a  / 
short  tale  of  the  French  and  Indian  War,  the  Indians  appear 
as  bloodthirsty  wretches  who,  after  years  of  friendly  inter 
course  with  the  Kettle  family  and  their  friends,  fall  upon  them 
treacherously  and,  in  scenes  of  the  most  gory  slaughter,  kill 
all  except  Mrs.  Kettle.  She  is  carried  off  to  Canada  under  the 
care  of  an  old  Indian  who  before  the  attack  had  promised  her 
protection.  The  account  of  the  journey  shows  real  interest  in 

1  For  examples  of  this  interest  in  the  negro  see  the  American  Moral 
and  Sentimental  Magazine,  New  York,  1797. 


67 

Indian  customs  and  is  probably  founded  on  the  experiences  of 
Mrs.  Bleecker's  husband  during  an  Indian  raid.  The  story, 
which  appears  in  a  posthumously  published  collection  of  Mrs. 
Bleecker's  writings,  is  of  the  rather  formless  type,  hesitating 
between  the  novel  and  the  short  story,  then  frequent  in  maga 
zine  fiction. 

Mrs.  Bleecker's  interest  in  Indian  customs  was  shared  by 
the  enterprising  Philenia,  whose  achievement  as  the  first 
American  novelist  has  been  discussed  in  a  previous  chapter. 
Inspired  by  a  desire  to  be  original  in  her  subject,  and  having 
observed  that  "the  manners  and  customs  of  the  aborigines  of 
North  America  are  so  limited  and  simple  that  they  have 
scarcely  engaged  the  attention  either  of  the  Philosopher  or  the 
Poet,"  Mrs.  Morton  brought  out  a  tale  in  verse,  Ouabi,  or  the 
Virtues  of  Nature.  Any  reader  who  may  object  to  the 
attribution  of  so  many  perfections  to  a  rude  uncultivated 
savage  she  refers  to  M.  Mercier,  or  the  authority  by  whom  she 
has  been  influenced,  William  Penn.  She  acknowledges  her 
indebtedness  in  the  matter  of  plot  to  "  Mr.  Carey's  interesting 
and  instructive  Museum"  and  breathes  a  modest  hope  that 
the  attempting  a  subject  so  wholly  American  may  entitle  her  to 
the  partial  eye  of  the  patriot. 

The  tale,  which  is  in  the  quatrain  of  Grey's  Elegy,  varied 
by  long  speeches  in  octosyllabic  couplets,  disclaims  at  the  out 
set  any  connection  with  the  softer  aspects  of  nature: 

"Tis  not  the  golden  hill,  nor  flowery  dale 
Which  lends  my  simple  muse  her  artless  theme, 
But  the  black  forest  and  uncultured  vale, 
The  savage  warrior  and  the  lonely  stream." 

Celario,  a  European  wandering  in  exile,  hears  the  screams  of 
a  young  Indian  woman  who  is  in  the  clutches  of  an  enemy — 

"  Quick  from  his  vest  the  deathful  tune  he  drew, 
Its  leaden  vengeance  thundered  o'er  the  green." 

The  rescued  maiden  proved  to  be  the  betrothed  of  the  great 
chief  Ouabi.  After  feasts  and  dances  the  Indians  go  forth  to 
battle,  and  Celario  with  them — "  like  white  narcissus  in  a  tulip 
bed."  Ouabi  is  captured  and  kept  a  prisoner  among  his 


68 

enemies.  Meanwhile  Celario,  wounded  in  the  battle,  is  tended 
by  the  beautiful  Indian  girl,  whom  he  soon  learns  to  love. 
Nevertheless  on  his  recovery  he  flies  to  avenge  Ouabi  and 
finds  the  chief  alive,  but  bound  to  the  stake,  singing  his  death 
song  with  scornful  fortitude — 

"  No  grief  this  warrior  soul  can  bow 
No  pangs  contract  this  even  brow ; 
Not  all  your  threats  excite  a  fear, 
Not  all  your  force  can  start  a  tear." 

On  returning  to  his  people,  Ouabi  discovers  the  love  that  is 
between  his  betrothed  and  Celario.  Magnanimously  resolving 
to  sacrifice  his  happiness  to  theirs,  he  blinds  them  to  his  self- 
devotion  by  pretending  to  desire  another  bride,  and  after  giving 
them  to  each  other  falls  dying  at  their  feet. 

What  is  most  remarkable  in  this  production  is  the  resemb 
lance  of  Ouabi,  in  his  dignity,  stoicism,  and  loftiness  of  spirit, 
to  the  idealized  Indian  with  whom  we  are  familiar  in  fiction. 
There  is  also  a  constant  attempt  to  give  real  colour  to  the  tale  by 
details  of  Indian  customs  and  folk-lore  which  are  explained  in 
foot-notes,  authorities  always  being  cited. 

Indian  abductors  appear  again  in  The  Emigrants,  by  Gilbert 
Imlay,  whose  name  is  remembered  only  for  its  association  with 
that  of  Mary  Wolstonecraft.  The  aim  of  the  tale  is  to  call 
attention  to  the  political  questions  then  occupying  Europe,  and 
particularly  to  the  effects  of  laws  concerning  marriage  and 
divorce,  and  emphasis  is  laid  on  the  imbecility  of  such  institu 
tions  as  are  incompatible  with  reason  and  nature.  It  is  thus 
to  a  certain  extent  allied  with  the  work  of  so-called  "  Revolu 
tionary  "  novelists,  such  as  Mrs.  Inchbald  and  Mrs.  Charlotte 
Smith,  who  use  the  familiar  figures  and  machinery  of  the 
romance,  of  their  day  to  display  new  opinions.  To  modern 
readers  it  is  only  of  interest  because  much  of  its  action  occurs 
in  the  "  back  settlements,"  starting  in  Pittsburg,  "  that  remote 
corner  of  the  empire  of  reason  and  science,"  and  proceeding  to 
Louisville,  and  down  the  Mississippi,  "  these  Arcadian  regions 
where  there  is  room  for  millions."  The  descriptions  of  pioneer 
life,  however,  are  too  much  in  the  idyllic  spirit — even  the  polite 


69 

Indians  who  carry  off  the  heroine  display  an  almost  Grandi- 
sonian  consideration. 

Imlay  shows  more  acquaintance  with  French  authors,  such 
as  La  Rochefoucauld,  Rousseau,  Fenelon,  and  the  Cardinal  du 
Retz  than  with  English  writers,  but  the  former  cannot  justly 
be  accused  of  having  formed  his  style.  In  such  phrases  as 
"that  luctiferous  schism"  describing  the  parting  of  friends, 
or  the  request  to  the  lady  whose  father  the  hero  has  released 
from  the  debtor's  prison  to  "make  your  generous  and  affec 
tionate  parent  easy  as  to  his  penal  engagements,"  the  felicity 
seems  to  be  all  his  own;  but  in  his  nature  descriptions,  for 
example  that  of  the  forest  in  which  "  all  the  golden  fruits  of 
autumn  hung  pending  from  their  shrubs,"  there  is  an  echo  of 
Thomson. 

Charles  Brockden  Brown  is  sometimes  credited  with  having 
begun  the  idealization  of  the  Indian  in  his  Edgar  Huntly,  or  the 
Memoirs  of  a  Sleep-Walker,  one  of  the  most  loosely  con 
structed,  yet  in  some  respects  one  of  the  most  interesting,  of 
his  works.  The  preface  contains  the  usual  declaration  of  the 
author's  consciousness  of  differing  conditions  in  America  and 
Europe.  "  The  sources  of  amusement  to  the  fancy  and  in 
struction  to  the  heart  that  are  peculiar  to  ourselves,  are  equally 
numerous  and  inexhaustible.  It  is  the  purpose  of  this  work 
to  profit  by  some  of  these  sources,  to  exhibit  a  series  of  ad 
ventures  growing  out  of  the  conditions  of  our  country,  and 
connected  with  one  of  the  most  common  and  most  wonderful 
diseases  or  affections  of  the  human  frame.  One  merit  the 
writer  may  at  least  claim;  that  of  calling  forth  the  passions 
and  engaging  the  sympathies  of  the  reader  by  means  hitherto 
unemployed  by  preceding  authors.  Puerile  superstitions  and 
exploded  manners,  Gothic  castles  and  chimeras,  are  the  ma 
terials  usually  employed  for  this  end.  The  incidents  of  Indian 
hostility  and  the  perils  of  the  western  wilderness  are  far  more 
suitable ;  and  for  a  native  of  America  to  overlook  these  would 
admit  of  no  apology.  These,  therefore,  are,  in  part,  the  in 
gredients  of  this  tale,  and  these  he  has  been  ambitious  of  de 
picting  in  vivid  and  faithful  colors." 

The  early  part  of  the  story  does  not  strikingly  differ  from 


70 

Brown's  other  tales.  There  is  the  usual  gifted  rustic,  Clithero, 
an  Irishman,  educated  by  the  usual  benefactor,  in  this  case  a 
woman.  Circumstances  lead  Clithero,  in  an  attack  of  insanity, 
to  stab  her.  He  escapes  to  America  and  becomes  a  farm 
servant  by  day  and  a  sleep-walker  by  night.  His  strange 
actions  rouse  in  Edgar  Huntly  a  suspicion  that  he  is  the 
slayer  of  Waldegrave,  Huntly's  mysteriously  murdered  friend. 
Consequently  Huntly  tracks  him  through  the  picturesque 
perils  of  a  wilderness  tract  in  Pennsylvania,  called  Nor- 
walk.  Huntly,  another  gifted  rustic,  whose  educating  patron 
later  proves  to  be  the  first  love  of  Clithero's  patroness, 
belong  to  the  type — quite  new  in  fiction — of  the  nature-loving 
youth  half  athlete,  half  philosopher.  "  I  love,"  he  says,  "  to 
immerse  myself  in  the  shades  and  dells,  and  hold  converse  in 
the  rude  retreats  of  Norwalk."  jf  He  tracks  the  birds  and  squir 
rels,  not  to  kill  them,  but  to  observe  their  habits,  and  if  pos 
sible  to  tame  them.  On  the  other  hand,  his  pride  in  his  strength 
and  agility  is  equal  to  that  of  the  modern  athletic  hero — "  I 
disdained  to  be  outdone  in  perspicacity  by  the  lynx,  or  in  his 
sure-footed  instinct  by  the  roe,  or  in  patience  under  hardship 
and  contention  with  fatigue  by  the  Mohawk.  I  have  ever 
aspired  to  transcend  the  rest  of  the  animals  in  all  that  is 
common  to  the  rational  and  brute,  as  well  as  in  all  by  which 
they  are  distinguished  from  each  other." 

The  wilderness  is  full  of  torrents  and  precipices,  savage 
beasts  and  strange  vegetation,  breathless  paths  and  impassable 
chasms,  and  almost  over-full  of  caverns  and  subterranean  pas 
sages.  On  one  of  his  expeditions  in  pursuit  of  Clithero,  Edgar 
is  forced  to  fell  a  tree,  in  order  to  bridge  a  chasm  over  a 
foaming  torrent.  At  his  next  visit,  after  safely  crossing  the 
tree,  he  sees  a  panther  approaching  the  extemporized  bridge,  and 
being  without  other  avenue  of  escape  he  is  obliged  to  sit  still 
and  watch  for  the  beast's  arrival.  After  two  pages  given  to  a 
harrowing  description  of  the  fierceness  of  the  animal,  the  reader 
cannot  help  a  mild  sensation  of  disappointment  when  the 
panther  merely  bounds  into  his  den,  and  obligingly  stays  there, 
while  Edgar  scrambles  to  safety  over  the  rain-wet  tree  trunk, 
— whereupon  the  panther,  emerging,  dances  in  vexation  on  the 


71 

other  side.  Then  he  springs ;  but  his  claws  slip  from  the  rock 
on  which  Edgar  is  standing,  and  he  falls  into  the  pit  below. 
In  these  pursuits  of  the  agile  Clithero,  Edgar  has  hair-breadth 
escapes,  groping  his  way  along  underground  passages  with 
the  rocky  wall  on  one  side,  on  the  other  the  unseen  abyss.  His 
real  adventures,  however,  begin  when  he  too  becomes  a  sleep 
walker  and  wakes  to  find  himself  at  the  bottom  of  an  enormous 
pit,  within  a  hill,  with  no  knowledge  of  how  he  has  come  there, 
and  no  means  of  getting  out.  The  description  of  his  groping 
efforts  to  escape,  of  the  horror  of  cold  and  darkness,  the  alterna 
tions  of  hope  and  exhaustion  as  he  tries  to  climb  the  sides  of 
the  pit,  the  actual  physical  sensations  of  thirst  and  hunger, 
his  dreadful  meal  from  the  still  warm  flesh  of  a  panther  whose 
eyes  shining  in  the  dark  have  formed  the  only  mark  for  his 
tomahawk — all  these  concrete  and  actual  horrors  give  Brown 
an  opportunity  to  display  something  of  that  grim  realism  in 
scenes  of  terror  which  he  had  shown  more  convincingly  in  his 
yellow  fever  scenes. 

At  length  Edgar,  guided  by  the  sound  of  water,  gropes  his 
way  to  a  cave  lighted  by  an  opening  to  the  outer  air,  and  finds 
it  occupied  by  a  party  of  Indians  on  the  war-path,  with  a 
farmer's  daughter  as  captive.  All  the  Indians  are  sleeping 
except  one  sentinel,  who  presently  leaves  the  cave  to  patrol 
the  narrow  ledge  outside.  Edgar  creeps  past  the  sleeping 
Indians,  hurls  his  trusty  tomahawk,  and  the  sentinel  falls  life 
less.  Edgar  returns  to  the  cave,  frees  the  girl,  steals  a  musket, 
and  escapes.  The  fugitives  finally  reach  a  hut  in- the  wilder 
ness,  the  deserted  abode  of  an  old  Indian  woman,  Queen  Mab. 
It  is  illustrative  of  Brown's  instinct  for  realistic  detail  that 
he  stops  his  narrative  of  adventure  to  explain  that  the  bucket 
on  the  floor  contains  sand,  water  dripped  from  the  roof,  and 
drowned  insects,  although  none  of  these  harmless  objects  play 
any  part  in  the  tale.  The  Indians  arrive  and  are  slain  by 
Edgar,  who  is  wounded;  the  damsel,  of  course,  faints,  and  a 
rescuing  party  which  appears  at  this  moment  takes  away  the 
girl,  leaving  Edgar  apparently  dead.  This  fact  in  itself  shows 
that  the  novel  of  adventure  is  in  its  infancy.  In  any  modern 
work  of  the  kind  the  fair  captive  would  have  been  the  heaven- 


72 

sent  bride  of  the  hero,  but  the  heartless  Brown  does  not  give 
her  another  page.  Huntly  recovers  and  departs,  incidentally 
disposing  of  another  Indian.  Although  thirty  miles  from 
home,  Edgar,  driven  by  anxiety  to  learn  the  fate  of  his  family 
in  the  Indian  raid,  tries  to  follow  a  short  way  across  the  hills 
by  night.  At  length  he  finds  himself  on  an  impassable  hillside, 
with  the  river  flowing  swiftly  below.  As  he  hesitates  to  swim 
it,  he  sees  a  line  of  figures  advancing  through  the  gloom  with 
the  regularity  of  Indians.  /  This  decides  the  question, — he 
leaps  from  the  precipice  and  swims  the  river  with  a  hail  of 
bullets  falling  around  his  head,  in  a  style  now  familiar  but  then 
quite  new.  (£)n  the  other  bank  he  makes  his  way  back  to  his 
own  neighborhood,  finding  traces  of  Indian  massacre  as  he 
goes.  After  his  arrival  there  the  narrative  returns  to  Clithero, 
who  has  been  abandoned  during  the  Indian  episodes,  and  it 
ends  with  the  suicide  of  that  unhappy  youth. 

Many  of  the  ramifications  of  the  tale  have  necessarily  been 
omitted  from  this  brief  account.  Brown's  novels,  because 
of  his  careless  construction,  are  always  peculiarly  difficult  to 
summarize — he  constantly  works  up  to  climaxes  which  do  not 
come  off  and  entices  the  reader  down  blind-alleys,  leaving  him 
to  wander  out  by  himself.  But  the  main  Indian  episodes  have 
been  given  in  order  that  Brown's  attitude  toward  the  Indian 
may  make  itself  as  clear  as  possible.  It  seems  scarcely  accurate 
to  say  that  he  idealized  them — they  are  always  savages,  "  who 
long  to  feast  on  my  heart's  blood," — Edgar  says,  "  I  never 
looked  upon  or  called  up  the  image  of  a  savage  without  shud 
dering."  The  only  approach  to  romantic  sympathy  with  an 
Indian  which  the  tale  displays,  is  in  the  account  of  old  Deb, 
or  Queen  Mab,  who  does  not  appear  in  person,  although  she 
is  credited  with  having  instigated  the  massacre.  Queen  Mab 
herself  is  no  very  heroic  figure,  a  shrivelled  old  woman  claim 
ing  descent  from  Indian  kings.  Her  tribe  has  been  driven 
from  the  neighborhood,  but  she  continues  to  live  in  her  hut, 
guarded  by  wolf-like  dogs.  Partly  through  the  pity  which  she 
inspires,  partly  through  the  terror  excited  by  the  periodical 
visits  of  her  Indian  friends,  she  levies  tribute  of  food  and  sup 
plies  from  the  surrounding  farmers.  Although  there  is  no  at- 


73 

tempt  to  represent  her  as  a  magnanimous  or  heroic  figure,  and 
although  her  interference  in  the  course  of  events  is  due  only  to 
malice  or  petty  revenge,  yet  in  her  clinging  to  the  home  from 
which  her  people  have  been  driven  out,  in  the  loyalty  of  the  ex 
iles  to  her  authority,  and  in  the  influence  which  through  her 
power  over  her  people  she  can  exert  on  the  fate  of  others,  there 
is  something  suggestive  of  Meg  Merrilies.  The  other  Indians 
are  not  named  or  given  distinct  personalities — to  Brown  they 
are  simply  savages,  with  the  strength  and  endurance,  and  also 
with  the  cruelty,  of  wild  beasts. 

Yet  Brown  saw  their  value  as  a  literary  asset.  To  one 
searching,  as  did  all  the  early  American  novelists,  not  only  for 
some  new  thing  but  for  some  typically  American  thing — search 
ing  with  a  keener  mind  and  a  wider  knowledge  oi  literature 
than  any  of  his  contemporaries  in  fiction — their  picturesque 
possibilities  must  have  been  strikingly  apparent.  Although 
they  presented  themselves  to  his  imagination  as  shapes  of  ter 
ror  rather  than  of  grandeur,  they  were  not  the  less  suited  to 
the  picture  of  wild  nature  which  Brown  had  set  himself  to 
paint. 

Readers  are  now  so  accustomed  to  the  out-of-doors  novel, 
to  the  youth  who  communes  with  nature,  the  indefatigable 
athlete,  the  hair-breadth  escape,  and  the  rest  of  it,  that  one  is  , 
apt  to  forget  how  new  those  adornments  of  fiction  were  in 
Brown's  day.  It  is  excellent  evidence  of  his  imaginative 
power  that,  notwithstanding  the  frequent  incongruity  of  his 
weighed  and  deliberate  style  with  the  vivacity  of  the  tale 
to  be  related,  he  could  present  the  cult  of  open  air  life  and 
adventure,  which  was  then  creeping  into  fiction,  in  a  form  v 
more  vivid  and  interesting  than  that  achieved  by  any  of  his 
British  contemporaries. 

Over  against  this  undoubtedly  real  enthusiasm  for  that 
"  spirit  that  breathes  its  inspiration  in  the  gloom  of  forests  and 
on  the  verge  of  streams,"  one  is  tempted  to  set  John  Davis's 
account  of  his  introduction  to  Brown.  This  not  too  reliable 
traveller  says  that,  finding  the  author  of  Arthur  Mervyn  work 
ing  in  a  dismal  room,  he  asked  if  Brown  would  not  write 
with  more  facility  were  the  prospect  of  the  lake  of  Geneva 


74 

before  him — " '  Sir,'  said  he,  '  good  pens,  thick  paper,  and  ink 
well  diluted,  would  facilitate  my  composition  more  than  the 
prospect  of  the  broadest  expanse  of  water,  or  mountains  rising 
from  the  clouds.' '' 

The  most  energetic  exploitation  of  the  Indian  in  this  period 
was  carried  on  by  this  interviewer  of  Brown,  an  author  who 
belongs  only  in  part  to  America,  John  Davis,  generally  de 
scribed  as  of  Salisbury,  England.  Davis,  however,  considered 
himself  a  citizen  of  the  world.  All  his  novels  are  on  American 
subjects,  or  place  some  of  their  scenes  in  America,  and  most 
of  them  were  published  here.  Although  he  at  one  time 
gained  a  considerable  popularity,  it  is  difficult  to  obtain  any 
information  about  his  life,  except  from  his  own  writings. 
Born  in  Salisbury,  he  became  a  wanderer  early  in  life  and  went 
to  sea,  at  first  in  a  merchant  vessel,  and  afterward  in  a  man-of- 
war  into  which  he  had  been  pressed.  He  made  the  voyage  to 
India,  and  sailed  in  most  European  waters.  While  at  sea  he 
devoted  his  leisure  to  educating  himself,  studied  several  lan 
guages,  and  read  Le  Sage  in  the  maintop.  He  came  to  the  United 
States  in  1798,  and  remained  three  and  a  half  years.  During 
this  time  he  travelled,  usually  on  foot,  over  a  large  part  of  the 
country.  When  out  of  funds  he  took  a  position  as  tutor,  or 
did  work  for  booksellers,  until  he  could  resume  his  wanderings. 

In  this  way  he  was  led  to  write  his  first  novel,  The  Original 
Letters  of  Ferdinand  and  Elizabeth,  a  seduction-suicide- 
Sorrows  of  Werther  concoction,  which,  Davis  says,  was 
founded  on  facts  brought  to  his  attention  by  a  bookseller.  His 
next  novel,  The  Farmer  of  New  Jersey,  had  a  sequel,  The 
Wanderings  of  William,  which  is  now  apparently  lost.  The 
Farmer  and  his  later  tale,  the  Post  Captain,  or  the  Wooden 
Walls  Well  Manned,  professedly  a  picture  of  life  in  the  English 
navy,  but  really  a  broad  farce  in  the  most  execrable  taste,  need 
no  detailed  discussion  here, — and  it  is  hardly  necessary  to 
offend  the  shade  of  Smollett  by  dwelling  on  his  influence  in 
them.  It  seems  to  have  been  impossible  for  Davis  to  try  to 
be  either  sentimental  or  humorous  without  being  either  silly 
or  offensive,  or  both  together. 

After  several  years  of  wandering  and  rather  aimless  literary 


75 

work,  Davis  returned  to  England  and  published  his  Travels, 
recounting  his  American  experiences,  and  describing  with  much 
detail  his  acquaintance  with  all  the  leading  men  of  America. 
His  chief  enthusiasm,  however,  is  for  natural  scenery,  for  the 
forest  regions  in  which  he  journeyed  on  foot  noting  every  de 
tail  of  vegetation  and  bird  and  animal  life,  for  the  taverns  in 
the  wilderness,  the  inhabitants  of  forest  cabins,  and  above  all 
for  the  Indians,  of  whom  he  says  that  they  "  want  only  an 
historian  who  would  measure  them  by  the  standard  of  Roman 
ideas  to  equal  in  bravery  and  magnanimity  those  proud  mas 
ters  of  the  world."  Again  he  declares  that  "  in  humanity  and 
all  the  softer  emotions  the  Indians  of  America  will  rival  the 
most  polished  nations  of  the  world." 

While  travelling  in  Virginia  he  had  planned,  and  possibly 
composed,  his  most  successful  work,  The  First  Settlers  of 
Virginia,  described  on  its  title  page  as  "An  Historical  Novel 
exhibiting  a  view  of  the  Rise  and  Progress  of  the  Colony  of 
Jamestown,  a  picture  of  Indian  Manners.  .  .  ."  The  second 
edition  appeared  in  New  York,  in  1805,  and  the  third  in  1806, 
and  a  condensed  version  was  published  in  Philadelphia,  in 
1817,  under  the  title  of  Captain  Smith  and  Princess  Pocahon- 
tas}  an  Indian  Tale. 

To  the  1805  edition  are  prefixed  comments  both  favorable 
and  unfavorable,  extracted  from  the  leading  English  and  Amer 
ican  reviews,  including  one  from  the  Philadelphia  Monthly 
Magazine,  by  Charles  Brockden  Brown.  Brown  commends 
the  subject  "  which  is  pure  American  and  which  relates  to  two 
of  the  most  interesting  personages  in  Early  American  His 
tory."  There  are  also  letters  to  the  author  from  various  dis 
tinguished  persons,  among  them  Thomas  Jefferson.  The 
writer  adds  that,  as  the  editor  of  the  New  York  Evening  Post 
has,  with  the  most  diabolical  malice,  asserted  that  these  letters 
are  forged,  the  originals  may  be  seen  by  any  person  whose 
scepticism  may  have  been  raised  by  the  base  calumniator  who 
has  endeavored  to  blast  the  author's  character.  In  this  Davis 
was  following  a  practice  common  among  English  journalists  a 
century  before. 

The  tale  itself  escorts  the  first  settlers  from  England  to 


76 

Virginia,  and  describes  their  struggles  to  establish  themselves. 
Then  comes  the  woeful  day  when  Smith,  on  an  exploring  expe 
dition,  is  captured  by  the  Indians,  and  tied  to  a  stake,  while 
his  fate  is  being  decided.  Smith  preserves  sufficient  detach 
ment  of  spirit,  notwithstanding  the  crisis  in  his  affairs,  to 
feel  that  the  dignity  and  gestures  of  the  Indian  orator  give 
him  "  a  lively  idea  of  the  celebrated  speakers  of  Greece  and 
Rome."  It  is  decided  to  take  him  to  Powhatan.  The  first 
stopping  place  on  the  journey  gives  the  author  an  opportunity 
to  descibe  in  detail  an  Indian  village,  and  the  arrival  at  Pow- 
hatan's  dwelling  place  occasions  further  descriptions  of  manners 
and  customs.  Smith's  rescue  by  Pocahontas  is  described  with 
much  affecting  detail  and  tribute  to  the  charms  of  the  Indian 
princess.  The  return  from  a  distant  hunt  of  Powhatan's  son, 
Nantaquas,  introduces  the  real  noble  redman.  Beautiful,  dig 
nified,  high-minded,  generous,  Nantaquas  at  once  takes  Smith 
to  his  heart,  and  when  his  father  proposes  to  spare  the  captive's 
life  but  keep  him  a  slave  spurns  the  suggestion,  exclaiming, 
"  No,  sire !  Life  without  liberty  is  only  a  burden.  He  wants 
only  a  little  ground,  you  can  easily  spare  it."  After  a  council 
and  Indian  dances,  Smith,  with  an  escort,  sets  out  through 
the  forest.  The  natural  objects  seen  on  the  march,  the  forest 
trees,  the  moss,  the  birds,  and  the  like  are  carefully  described 
in  little  separate  discourses,  evidently  taken  from  the  notes  of 
Davis's  wanderings,  and  not  thoroughly  woven  into  the  tale. 
After  Smith's  return  to  his  friends,  the  story  goes  on  in  a  loose 
chronicle  fashion,  telling  of  explorations,  negotiations  with  the 
Indians,  and  the  arrival  of  new  ships.  Whenever  possible  it 
gives  minute  descriptions  of  Indian  customs  and  of  forest 
animals. 

After  years  of  struggle,  Smith  decides  to  return  to  England. 
To  delude  the  fond  Pocahontas,  whose  affection  has  never 
melted  his  hard  heart,  he  embarks  secretly,  and  causes  a  report 
of  his  death  to  be  circulated.  The  Indian  maid  is  dissolved  in 
woe,  but  solace  is  at  hand,  although  she  knows  it  not.  In  the 
words  of  the  author,  "though  the  breast  of  Mr.  Rolfe  pos 
sessed  not  the  ambitions  of  Captain  Smith,  it  was  infinitely 
more  accessible  to  the  softer  emotions."  When  one  further 


77 

learns  that  "his  countenance  was  soul,  his  speech  exclama 
tion,"  the  fate  of  the  princess  is  plain.  The  scene,  however, 
in  which  Pocahontas,  weeping  over  the  supposed  grave  of 
Smith,  dries  her  tears  at  Rolfe's  first  declaration  of  affection, 
and  promptly  returns  his  proffered  regard  is  somewhat  too 
abrupt  in  its  emotional  shifting.  One  is  reminded  of  the  spec 
tacle  of  Mr.  Collins  changing  from  Jane  to  Elizabeth  while 
Mrs.  Bennett  stirred  the  fire. 

After  his  return  to  England,  in  1802,  Davis  wrote  a  life  of 
Chatterton,  The  Post  Captain,  and  Walter  Kennedy,  an  Amer 
ican  Tale.  In  the  last  of  these  he  returns  to  the  forest  and  the 
Indians.  The  story  describes  the  solitary  wanderings  of  Ken 
nedy,  an  Irish  youth  crossed  in  love,  who,  like  Rene,  seeks 
peace  of  mind  in  the  wilds  of  America,  finally  making  his  home 
among  the  Indians  and  marrying  an  Indian  princess. 

Although  Davis  has  no  ability  as  a  novelist,  and  the  impres 
sion  of  his  personality  which  one  derives  from  his  works  is 
distinctly  disagreeable,  he  seems  to  have  been  an  observant  and 
interested  traveller,  with  a  zeal  for  noting  and  reproducing 
new  and  unusual  scenes,  to  which  his  tales  probably  owed  such 
popularity  as  they  attained. 

Several  years  after  the  publication  of  Davis's  Indian  tales, 
appeared  one  of  the  most  remarkable  products  of  patriotic 
fervor  and  humanitarian  zeal  that  ever  celebrated  the  virtues 
of  the  guileless  savage,  The  History  of  the  Female  American, 
or  the  Extraordinary  Adventures  of  Unca  Eliza  Winkfield,  ^  ^ 
Compiled  by  Herself.  This  unusual  work  unites  certain  char 
acteristics  of  several  types  popular  in  the  fiction  of  the  day, — 
the  religious  novel,  the  Indian  tale,  the  Robinson  Crusoe  ro 
mance,  with  a  slight  reminiscence  of  Atala;  or,  from  a  more 
modern  point  of  view,  it  might  perhaps  be  described  as  a  happy 
combination  of  Mr.  Rider  Haggard  and  a  missionary  tract. 

The  tale,  which  is  autobiographical  in  form,  first  explains 
the  heroine's  ancestry.  Her  father,  whose  family  had  been 
among  the  first  settlers  of  Virginia,  had  been  captured  in  an 
Indian  massacre  at  Jamestown,  and  taken  prisoner  to  the  Indian 
king.  His  life  had  been  saved  by  the  princess  Unca,  who  had 


78 

fallen  in  love  with  him.  Winkfield,  after  he  had  "lost  his 
first  disgust  for  her  complexion,"  returned  her  regard.  Un 
fortunately  the  king's  eldest  daughter,  Alluca,  also  loved  the 
captive,  and  bade  him  choose  between  her  love  and  poison  in 
a  pomegranate  shell.  He  nobly  swallowed  the  fatal  draught, 
but  was  revived  by  Unca  who  arrived  in  time  to  save  her 
Winka,  as  she  fondly  called  him.  The  old  king  then  permitted 
their  marriage,  contributed  a  large  dowry,  and  yearly  there 
after  sent  a  messenger  with  inquiries  and  rich  gifts. 

This  blissful  state  of  affairs  continues  until  the  little  Unca 
Eliza  is  six  years  old,  when  Alluca  becomes  queen  and  sends 
assassins  who  murder  the  princess  Unca.  Winkfield  escapes, 
and  later  sends  his  daughter  to  be  educated  in  England.  There 
she  learns  Greek,  Latin,  and  polite  literature,  and  attracts  much 
attention  by  her  tawny  skin,  lank  black  hair,  strings  of  dia 
monds,  and  retinue  of  slaves.  She  returns  to  America  for  a 
time,  but  after  her  father's  death  buys  a  sloop  to  convey  her 
self,  her  slaves,  and  effects,  to  England.  The  captain  of  her 
ship  tries  to  force  from  her  a  promise  to  marry  his  son,  or 
else  to  give  him  thirty  thousand  pounds.  Failing  in  this,  he 
slaughters  the  slaves  and  maroons  Unca  Eliza  on  an  unin 
habited  island. 

After  perusing  the  Greek  Testament  which  she  always  car 
ries  in  her  pocket,  the  dauntless  Unca  takes  over  the  establish 
ment  of  a  hermit  lately  deceased,  who  has  left  a  commodious 
and  neatly  furnished  cell,  a  flock  of  well  trained  goats,  and  an 
autobiography  containing  full  directions  for  island  housekeep 
ing.  From  this  manuscript  she  learns  that  she  is  living  in 
part  of  the  ruined  temple  of  an  idol  sacred  to  the  sun,  which 
Indians  from  a  neighboring  island  come  once  a  year  to  wor 
ship.  On  investigation  she  finds  many  rooms  each  adorned  by 
a  golden  lamp,  and  filled  with  mummies  of  priests,  or  the  stone 
coffins  of  virgins  consecrated  to  the  temple  service.  All  the 
priestesses  wear  golden  coronets,  and  the  high  priests  have 
golden  suns  on  their  breasts. 

A  slight  diversion  occurs  when  she  finds  that  the  hermit  is 
not  dead  after  all,  but  he  dies  the  next  day,  and  Unca  continues 


79 

her  explorations.  She  finds  the  idol  itself,  an  enormous  golden 
image,  inscribed  "  the  oracle  of  the  sun,"  and  near  it  she  discov 
ers  a  trap-door  leading  into  a  room  full  of  precious  vestments. 
A  staircase  leads  up  into  the  interior  of  the  idol.  Unca,  ascend 
ing,  finds  herself  in  the  head  looking  out  over  the  temple  hall, 
and  perceives  arrangements  to  swell  to  superhuman  sounds  the 
voice  of  any  one  speaking  where  she  stands. 

As  the  day  for  the  Indians'  annual  worship  approaches,  Unca 
decides  to  speak  to  them  from  the  idol  and  convert  them  to 
Christianity.  Her  words,  spoken  as  those  of  an  oracle,  have 
great  effect.  After  the  crowd  has  departed  the  priests  return 
to  learn  her  wishes,  and  she  tells  them  that  a  woman  in  form 
like  themselves  shall  come  among  them  with  words  of  instruc 
tion  and  enlightenment.  Then,  dressed  in  a  high  priest's  vest 
ments  and  covered  with  jewels,  she  accompanies  them  to  their 
island,  where  she  instructs  the  people,  translates  the  Bible,  and 
employs  the  young  priests  to  teach  the  church  of  England  cate 
chism  to  the  children.  At  the  end  of  three  years  a  cousin  from 
England  comes  in  search  of  Unca,  marries  her,  and,  as  he  is  a 
clergyman,  is  of  great  assistance  to  her  in  her  missionary  efforts. 
Their  work  continues  to  prosper  and  receives  further  assistance 
from  a  converted  pirate.1 

Quite  as  remarkable,  perhaps,  in  its  way,  as  the  Female 
American  is  The  Champion  of  Freedom,  or  the  Mysterious  Chief 
by  Samuel  Woodworth,  the  author  of  The  Old  Oaken  Bucket. 
Of  this  work,  which  deals  with  the  War  of  1812,  its  author 
says:  "Although  termed  a  Romance  ...  it  will  nevertheless 
prove  to  be  the  most  correct  and  complete  history  of  the  recent 
War  which  has  yet  appeared."  He  also  calls  attention  to  the 
fact  that  the  book  is  "  of  domestic  manufacture  and  cannot  dis 
please  the  eye  of  a  patriot." 

The  hero,  the  youthful  George  Washington  Willoughby,  has 
from  his  birth  been  reserved  for  no  common  fate.  His  father, 
Major  Willoughby,  had  received  from  his  friend  and  general, 

1This  is  possibly  the  first  novel  to  indicate  the  interest  in  the  nations 
to  the  south  of  the  United  States  which  later  appears  in  works  by  R.  C. 
Sands  and  Timothy  Flint. 


80 

George  Washington,  a  sword,  which  he  had  sworn  never  to 
relinquish  except  with  life,  but  in  an  Indian  fight  his  hand 
had  been  struck  off,  and  the  sword  had  fallen  from  his  grasp. 
The  unhappy  major  exclaimed :  "  O  that  I  had  a  son  to  redeem 
my  vow ! "  Whereupon  a  voice,  proceeding  from  the  lifeless 
body  of  a  Miami  chief,  said  distinctly:  "You  have  a  son  to 
redeem  your  vow."  At  that  hour,  eight  hundred  miles  away, 
George  Washington  Willoughby  was  born. 

To  avoid  the  contaminating  influences  imported  from  Europe, 
Major  Willoughby  removes  to  the  shore  of  Lake  Erie,  where 
he  builds  a  "  neat  rural  mansion,"  furnished  "  in  a  style  of 
cottage  elegance."  The  youthful  George  Washington  Wil 
loughby  is  the  child  of  nature.  His  friendship  with  the  neigh 
boring  Indians  is  so  great  that  "  at  the  age  of  sixteen  George 
Washington  Willoughby  had  become  quite  an  accomplished 
savage."  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  enter  into  the  details  of  his 
adventures.  He  of  course  joins  the  army  at  the  outbreak  of 
the  war,  and  the  rest  of  the  book  is  devoted  to  the  history  of 
the  struggle,  told  for  the  most  part  in  letters  exchanged  by 
the  personages  of  the  tale,  but  without  any  real  weaving  together 
of  fiction  and  history.  The  one  striking  feature  of  the  nar 
rative  is  the  apparition  of  the  mysterious  chief,  the  majestic 
form  of  the  dead  Indian  warrior  who  foretold  the  hero's  birth, 
and  in  time  of  stress  or  crisis  always  appears  to  exhort,  admon 
ish,  or  reprove.  This  strange  creation  seems  to  have  been 
intended  by  the  author  to  represent  the  spirit  of  Washington, 
clothing  itself  in  the  form  of  the  dead  chief  in  order  to  watch 
over  his  namesake.  There  is  an  egregious  solemnity  about 
Woodworth's  attitude  toward  his  hero  which  shakes  the  se 
riousness  of  the  reader,  especially  in  the  moments  of  great 
ness,  when  the  hero  alludes  to  himself  in  the  third  person  as 
George  Washington  Willoughby,  apparently  rolling  the  sound 
ing  syllables  on  his  tongue. 

Although  all  these  early  attempts  at  historical  romances  and 
Indian  tales  are,  with  the  exception  of  Edgar  Huntly,  always 
trivial  and  often  absurd,  they  have  a  certain  appeal  to  the 
interest  of  the  modern  reader,  apart  from  the  claims  made  by 


81 

the  sincere,  although  somewhat  over-aggressive,  patriotism  of 
their  authors.  The  earliest  American  fiction  had  looked  back 
ward,  finding  its  models  in  the  schools  of  Richardson  and  his 
contemporaries,  already  passing  as  a  literary  fashion.  The 
stories  of  Gothic  terrors  and  of  political  speculation  merely 
kept  abreast  of  the  fashions  of  the  day.  But  these  tales  of 
history  and  of  Indian  adventure  look  forward,  however  feebly 
and  short-sightedly,  to  another  great  period  of  fiction. 


CHAPTER   IV 
COOPER  AND  HIS  CONTEMPORARIES 

ALTHOUGH  the  years  from  1815  to  1820  saw  a  revival  of  the 
novel  in  England  through  the  immediate  popularity  of  Scott's 
romances,  in  America,  nevertheless,  they  were  years  of  dis 
couragement  and  inactivity.  The  patriotic  efforts  of  the  early 
American  novelists  had  apparently  spent  themselves  in  vain. 
People  still  read  novels,  but  they  read  English  novels,1  and  they 
depended  on  English  citicism  to  tell  them  what  novels  to  read. 
John  Neal  in  his  Randolph,  published  in  1823,  voices,  with  his 
customary  exaggeration,  the  accusations  of  dependence  and  ser 
vility  brought,  not  without  justice,  against  the  American  critics  of 
his  day,  saying  that  in  America  the  name  of  novel-writer  would 
be  considered  a  reproach  to  a  man  of  genius.  He  complains 
bitterly  of  the  complete  neglect  of  Charles  Brockden  Brown  by 
his  countrymen.  "  Few  of  our  literary  men  have  read  him," 
he  says.  Any  praise  which  Brown  may  receive  in  America 
is  due,  not  to  admiration  of  his  work,  but  to  the  commendation 
which  it  has  received  in  England.  At  the  time  at  which  he 
writes,  however,  he  finds  that  things  are  improving,  and  men 
are  beginning  to  put  on  their  title-pages  "by  an  American," 
and  "  an  American  tale,"  words  that  a  few  years  before  would 
have  been  as  politic  as  "  by  a  Choctaw,"  or  a  "  Narragansett 

1  George  Watterston  early  complained  of  this — "  Baldwin  observed  that 
the  novels  of  this  country  did  not  seem  to  be  received  with  that  favor  he 
thought  they  were  entitled  to.  '  That  is,'  he  said,  *  because  their  scenes 
are  placed  here,  the  public  taste  is  in  this  respect  corrupt  and  injudicious — 
novel  readers  have  so  long  been  in  the  habit  of  perusing  works  whose 
scenes  lie  in  Europe  and  whose  characters  they  are  unacquainted  with, 
that  they  instantly  revolt  at  a  novel  description  of  American  scenery  and 
American  character.' "  Glencarn,  p.  207.  See  also  the  North  American 
Review,  1815,  Vol.  I,  p.  307,  article  on  American  Literature,  and  Vol.  II, 
p.  33,  Reflections  on  the  literary  delinquency  of  America.  See  also  H.  C. 
Lodge  on  Colonialism  in  the  United  States,  in  Studies  in  History,  Boston, 
1884. 

82 


83 

tale."  It  was  not  given  to  Neal  to  foresee  that  in  a  few  more 
years  the  inscriptions  which  he  suggested  in  derision  would 
have  helped  to  sell  the  book. 

To  this  lack  of  independent  criticism  was  added  the  interest 
of  the  publisher's  pocket.  The  convenient  simplicity  of  copy 
right  arrangements  at  that  time  made  it  possible  for  him  to 
reprint  popular  English  novels  and  enjoy  the  entire  profit 
undisturbed,  while  the  needy  race  of  American  authors 
clamoured  in  vain  for  a  hearing. 

Whatever  the  cause,  it  is  a  striking  fact  that,  great  as  was 
Scott's  vogue  among  the  reading  public,  his  influence  produced 
no  novel  in  America  between  the  publication  of  Waverley  in 
1814  and  that  of  The  Spy  in  1821  .*  Rosalvo  Delmonmort,  which 
appeared  in  1818,  had,  however,  one  curious  connection  with 
the  Waverley  novels.  The  tale  itself  is  a  melodrama  of  high 
life  whose  only  memorable  feature  is  the  conduct  of  a  countess. 
This  lady  is  so  overcome  by  grief  at  the  death  of  her  brother- 
in-law  that  she  forsakes  her  ancestral  castle  and  rents  a  house 
in  London,  where  she  lets  lodgings  to  respectable  young 
gentlemen.  Although  there  is  little  indication  of  Scott's  in 
fluence  in  the  story  itself,  the  name  "  Guy  Mannering "  ap 
pears  on  the  title-page  as  that  of  the  author  of  the  work.  A 
prefatory  note  explains  that  after  the  death  of  Dominie  Samp 
son  the  manuscript  was  found  in  his  pocket,  with  a  note  as 
cribing  its  composition  to  Colonel  Mannering.  In  spite  of 
this  ingenious  advertising  device — the  only  sign  of  inventive 
ability  displayed  in  the  book — the  tale  can  hardly  have  become 
popular  even  in  1818.  Several  years  elapsed  before  any  one 
realized  how  adaptable  a  pattern  Scott  had  provided  for  that 
novel  of  "  native  manners  "  which  had  been  the  ideal  of  many 
aspiring  American  authors. 

Scott  had  gathered  up  and  recombined,  according  to  form 
ulas  of  his  own,  many  elements  present  in  the  fiction  of  his 
day, — the  tendency  to  localized  or  national  tales  with  that 

1  Scott's  novels,  before  Ivanhoe,  were,  of  course,  national  rather  than 
historical.  But  it  was  precisely  a  national  fiction  that  American  novel 
ists  had  been  trying  to  develop.  For  the  spread  of  Scott's  influence  about 
1820  see  L.  Maigron — Le  Roman  Historique,  Paris,  1898. 


84 

interest  in  humble  personages,  on  whom  local  characteristics 
are  most  deeply  impressed,  which  appears  most  plainly  in  Miss 
Edgeworth's  Irish  stories;  the  interest  in  romantic  landscape 
and  word-painting  of  natural  scenery  which  found  its  most 
striking  expression  in  Mrs.  Radcliffe's  theatrical  yet  impressive 
scenes ;  the  tale  of  adventure  reinforced  by  the  revived  interest 
in  travel  and  antiquarian  taste  for  old  buildings  and  trappings ; 
and  the  eagernes  for  an  imaginative  interpretation  of  history 
which  had  expressed  itself  in  many  would-be  historical  tales, 
whose  hopeless  inaccuracies  had  a  naive  honesty  of  good  in 
tention.  These  ingredients  Scott  mixed  in  proportions  varying 
in  his  different  works,  and  the  result  was  a  new  form  and  a 
new  force  in  fiction  which  was  destined  to  bring  about  a  revival 
of  the  novel. 

In  many  respects  Cooper  was  to  the  American  novel  what 
Scott  was  to  the  British.  Indeed  his  service  to  the  fiction  of 
his  own  country  was  even  greater  than  was  Scott's  to  the  Brit 
ish  novel,  for  while  Scott  restored  to  favor  a  literary  form 
which  had  once  been  great  but  had  fallen  into  decay,  Cooper 
and  his  followers  actually  established  novel-writing  in  Amer 
ican  literature,  where,  hitherto,  even  work  so  powerful  as 
Brown's  had  given  it  no  real  foothold.  In  strict  justice,  there 
fore,  any  history  of  early  American  fiction  should  devote  most 
of  its  space  to  Cooper.  But  as  the  object  of  this  study  has 
been  to  fill  in  the  background  against  which  Cooper  stands, 
rather  than  to  present  a  new  view  of  the  great  emerging  figure, 
the  discussion  of  his  work  has  been  limited  to  what  seems  suffi 
cient  to  make  clear  his  position  and  influence  among  his  con 
temporaries. 

One  feels  an  odd  incongruity  in  the  fact  that  Cooper,1  who 
was  destined  to  be  afflicted  with  the  epithet  of  "  the  American 
Scott,"  should  have  begun  his  literary  career  with  a  ponderous 
attempt  at  the  novel  of  manners — and  of  English  manners  at 
that.  This  work,  of  which  no  impression  but  one  of  bulk  ever 

1For  Cooper's  other  works  and  his  life  see  Professor  Lounsbury's  Life 
in  the  American  Men  of  Letters  Series.  An  interesting  appreciation  of 
Cooper's  novels  by  Mr.  W.  C.  Brownell  appeared  in  Scribner's  Magazine, 
April,  1906. 


{    UNIVERSITY 

v  r  °f     y 

^^UFORN^X 


85 

remains  in  the  memory,  had  at  least  the  merit  of  encouraging 
the  author  to  continue.  A  lucky  accident  led  Cooper  to  in 
terest  himself  in  the  story  of  a  humble  patriot  of  the  Revolu 
tionary  War,  and  the  result  was  The  Spy  (1821)  a  story  of  the 
Revolution.  There  are  arid  tracts  in  this  tale,  which  is  much 
in  the  general  manner  of  Scott,  with  a  great  deal  of  action, 
a  background  of  historical  events,  a  love  story  among  the 
more  aristocratic  personages,  and  comic  relief  afforded  by  the 
humbler  retainers  and  subordinates — yet  the  interest  of  the 
story  is  sustained,  some  of  the  minor  personages  are  well 
drawn,  and  the  conception  of  Harvey  Birch,  the  self-devoted 
spy,  is  entirely  admirable. 

The  popularity  of  The  Spy  went  far  toward  convincing 
Cooper  that  an  American  subject  was  no  bar  to  the  success  of 
a  novel,  and  in  his  next  book,  The  Pioneers  (1823)  he  con 
tinued  the  experiment.  In  this  work  he  used  as  material  the 
experiences  of  his  early  life  in  the  frontier  regions  of  New  York 
while  in  The  Pilot,  published  in  the  same  year,  he  employed 
his  naval  training  and  his  life  at  sea.  The  latter  undertaking 
is  said  to  have  been  suggested  by  a  sense  of  the  inexperience 
in  nautical  matters  displayed  in  Scott's  Pirate. 

In  these  tales  Cooper  had  discovered  the  three  types  to 
which  he  afterward  adhered  quite  steadily — the  romantic  tale 
with  a  general  historical  setting,  the  sea  tale,  and  the  forest 
romance.  His  next  novel,  Lionel  Lincoln,  was,  it  is  true,  an- 
attempt  at  the  more  elaborate  and  documented  historical  story ; 
but  it  was  a  failure,  slightly  mitigated  by  a  few  good  fights, 
and  only  saved  from  the  stodginess  of  his  first  story,  Precaution, 
by  the  absence  of  the  atmosphere  of  piety  and  decorum  which 
hangs  like  a  pall  over  that  work.  In  the  first  of  these  types  he 
never  repeated  the  success  of  The  Spy,  although  The  Bravo  is 
good  of  its  kind ;  but  in  the  last  two  he  found  his  real  province. 

Both  The  Pioneers  and  The  Pilot  show  a  sense  of  experiment. 
Their  real  interest  to  Cooper,  as  to  the  modern  reader,  must 
have  been  in  the  life  of  the  forest  and  the  sea ;  yet  these  were 
such  unconventional  themes  in  fiction  that  he  used  them  as  a 
background,  and  put  forward  conventional  love  stories,  re 
spectively  of  the  injured  and  proud  young  lover,  and  of  the 


86 

heartless  parent,  type.  It  is  largely  the  presence  of  these 
rather  wooden  love-affairs  that  gives  Cooper  the  reputation 
of  stiffness  that  he  seems  to  enjoy  among  modern  novel- 
readers — yet  one  does  not  see  how  he  could  have  done  other 
wise.  He  did  not  begin  writing  with  any  sense  of  a  heaven- 
bestowed  commission  to  reform  American  fiction,  but  felt  his 
way  like  any  ordinary  mortal,  following  up  his  successes  and, 
in  general,  forsaking  his  failures ;  so  that  his  Leather  Stocking 
Tales  when  read  in  the  order  of  their  hero's  experiences  seem 
to  show  a  falling  off  in  artistic  achievement,  whereas,  if  they 
are  read  in  the  actual  order  of  their  appearance  one  sees  the 
advance  made  from  The  Pioneers  to  The  Pathfinder  and  The 
Deerslayer.  In  building  his  earlier  tales  around  a  conventional 
romance  of  youthful  lovers,  Cooper  had  the  excellent  example 
of  Scott  to  follow,  as  well  as  that  of  the  countless  minor 
novelists  of  the  day. 

From  the  use  of  this  sentimental  machinery  arises  that  fruit 
ful  source  of  controversy,  the  question  of  Cooper's  heroines. 
Professor  Lounsbury  has  made  merry  over  them.  Mr. 
Brownell  has  achieved  the  more  difficult,  but  not  impossible, 
feat  of  admiring  them,  assuring  the  curious  reader  that  the 
quiet  scholastic  atmosphere  of  New  Haven  is  responsible  for 
Professor  Lounsbury's  craving  for  "  more  ginger  "  in  fiction. 
One  gathers  that  Mr.  Brownell  himself  finds  a  certain  repose 
in  contemplating  the  elegant  vacuity  of  a  Cecilia  Howard  or  a 
Louisa  Grant.  One's  own  ideal  is,  of  course,  a  matter  of 
taste,  but  there  is  no  real  ground  for  supposing  that  these 
gentle  beings  were  necessarily  Cooper's  ideal.  They  belong 
to  one  of  the  most  elderly  and  respectable  traditions  of  fiction — 
that  of  the  fine  lady  or  "  elegant  female  " — and  they  could  be 
inserted  in  any  romance  as  simply  as  could  a  comma  or  an 
interrogation  point.  The  romance  of  two  young  persons  aristo 
cratic,  either  by  birth  or  by  reason  of  wealth  or  position,  has 
always,  with  few  exceptions,  turned  the  wheels  of  the  tale  of 
romantic  adventure, — and  in  tales  of  this  sort  the  heroine 
usually  belongs  to  one  of  three  simple  types,  the  hoyden,  the 
cat,  or  the  imbecile.  Cooper  was  far  too  polite  to  introduce 
the  hoyden,  too  chivalrous  to  believe  in  the  cat — there  remained 


87 

only  the-  imbecile,  who  had  the  further  advantage  of  being 
much  the  easiest  to  manage.  These  ladies  occur  in  all  the 
romances  of  the  time,  generally  in  pairs,  a  languid  blonde  and 
a  somewhat  more  vivacious  brunette,  or  a  proud  and  haughty 
brunette  and  a  softer  more  susceptible  blonde. 

The  exaggeration  of  the  type  gives  those  exquisitely  aristo 
cratic  beings  one  of  whom  served  as  the  heroine  of  Timothy 
Flint's  Robinson  Crusoe  romance  Arthur  Clenning.  Although 
her  native  pride  and  exclusiveness,  which  had  at  first  made  it 
difficult  for  her  to  speak  courteously  to  the  ship's  steward 
with  whom  she  had  been  shipwrecked,  gradually  melted,  until 
she  became  his  admiring  bride, — yet  to  the  last  she  spent  her 
time  in  a  specially  constructed  bower  meditating  questions  of 
adornment.  When  an  attentive  providence  sent  her  a  giant 
black  "  savagess  "  as  a  serving  maiden,  mistress  and  maid  de 
voted  all  their  spare  moments  to  remodelling  frocks  and  con 
triving  new  costumes.  Materials  were  not  lacking,  as  the  ship 
had,  with  the  consideration  usual  in  such  tales,  perched  upon  a 
convenient  rock,  until  the  removal  of  all  its  portable  contents 
allowed  it  to  sink  with  a  quiet  conscience.  In  comparison  with 
such  a  lady  of  the  first  fashion  Cooper's  most  elegant  heroines 
seem  rustic  and  impulsive.  Moreover  the  elegance  and  help 
lessness  of  his  ladies  is  always  mitigated  by  simplicity  and 
goodness. 

As  Cooper  grew  in  skill  and  knowledge  of  his  own  powers, 
he  modified  or  abandoned  this  conventional  machinery  as  he 
chose.  In  most  of  his  stories  he  still  found  it  a  convenience, 
but  from  the  Leather-stocking  Tales,  in  which  it  was  least 
appropriate,  it  gradually  vanished ;  it  is  still  the  motive  power 
of  The  Prairie,  but  the  lovers  are  already  married  and  are  kept 
in  the  background  ;  in  The  Last  of  the  Mohicans  they  are  already 
betrothed,  and  the  sentimental  interest  of  the  story  is  in  the 
hopeless  love  of  the  half-caste  Cora  for  the  hero,  and  of  the 
Indian  Uncas  for  Cora.  In  The  Pathfinder  the  conventional 
heroine  has  disappeared,  and  her  place  is  taken  by  the  pleasant 
commonplaceness  of  the  soldier's  daughter,  Mabel  Dunham, 
who,  being  under  no  compulsion  to  be  elegant,  has  leisure  to 
be  sweet  and  sensible.  In  The  Deer  slayer  Cooper  achieved  a 


88 

really  subtle  study  of  heredity  and  environment  in  Judith 
Hutter,  and  a  strangely  sympathetic  realization  of  her  feeble 
minded  sister. 

There  are  other  women  in  Cooper's  romances,  as  in  those  of 
Scott,  who  being  born  to  a  humbler  station  in  society,  or  a 
minor  part  in  the  tale,  are  natural  and  life-like  because  they 
were  created  by  the  author,  and  not  acquired  ready-made,  as 
was  the  leading  young  lady.  Of  the  enterprising  damsels  who 
masquerade  as  cabin  boys  in  The  Red  Rover  and  as  super-cargo 
in  The  Water  Witch,  varying  their  duties  by  performance  on 
the  lute,  it  is  not  necessary  to  speak  in  detail.  One  can  hardly 
go  beyond  Mr.  Brownell's  epithet  of  "  Ariel  like  "  for  these 
"paradigms  of  female  enterprise,"  as  an  early  ornament  of 
American  fiction  would  have  described  them. 

Cooper's  Indian,  if  less  a  source  of  controversy  than  Cooper's 
heroine,  has  been  even  more  hardly  judged.  The  assertion 
that  Cooper  "  idealized "  the  Indian  has  acquired  the  grey- 
haired  respectability  of  established  tradition.  Professor  Cross 
says  that  Natty  Bumppo  and  Chingachgook  are  constructed  on 
a  plan  which,  though  romancers  had  often  tried  it,  had  never 
been  very  successful,  "  that  of  uniting  in  one  person  the  char 
acteristics  of  two  races,"1 — yet  this  is  what  Cooper  strove 
hardest  to  avoid.  Natty  Bumppo  himself,  although  he  rec 
ognizes  the  common  material  of  human  nature,  dwells  perti 
naciously  on  the  difference  of  redskin  gifts  and  white  man's 
gifts — on  the  warpath  Hawkeye  never  attains  the  Indian's  skill 
in  following  a  trail,  and  Chingachgook  never  learns  to  use  a 
rifle  with  the  accuracy  of  the  white  man.  And  the  same  inerad 
icable  difference  exists  in  their  moral  qualities.  Cooper  can 
hardly  be  said  to  have  idealized  his  Indians  any  more  than 
Charles  Brockden  Brown  idealized  them.  Both  saw  their  pic 
turesque  possibilities.2  Brown  emphasizes  the  picturesqueness 

1  Development  of  the  English  Novel,  p.  153. 

2  For  an  unfavorable  view  of  Cooper's  Indians  see  Francis  Parkman  in 
the  North  American  Review,   Boston,   1852,  Vol.  LXXIV.     He  says  that 
Cooper's   Indian   characters   are   for   the   most   part   either   superficially   or 
falsely  drawn.     In  general,  however,  Parkman  strongly  commended  Cooper's 
tales.     For  other  views  of  Cooper  see  Lowell  in  Fable  for  Critics,  Thack 
eray  in  Roundabout  Papers,  Mr.  Roosevelt  as  quoted  by  Mr.  Jacob  Riis,  and 
Professor  Brander  Matthews's  introduction  to  the  Leather-stocking  Tales. 


89 

of  their  faults, — Cooper  that  of  their  virtues.  But  the  virtues 
which  he  attributed  to  them  are  those  with  which  they  are  gen 
erally  credited  by  people  who  knew  the  Indian  before  he 
came  into  contact  with  the  blessings  of  civilization  as  dis 
seminated  by  the  trader.  Snelling,  who  wrote  his  Tales  of  the 
Northwest  to  correct  the  popular  idea  of  Indian  character  and 
manners,  did  not  adduce  anything  to  disprove  Cooper's  general 
estimate  of  Indian  character.  The  real  idealization  of  the 
Indian  was  carried  on  by  Cooper's  contemporaries  and  imita 
tors — some  of  them  excellent  Massachusetts  ladies — whose 
Indians  are  white  men  painted  red,  and  endowed  with  all  the 
virtues  and  a  figurative  turn  of  speech.  Cooper  shows  his 
sincerity  when  he  allows  Chingachgook,  the  only  one  of  his 
Indian  heroes  whose  career  is  followed  at  length,  to  fulfill  the 

•  sordid  tragedy  of  his  race  by  degrading  his  old  age  with  drink. 

In  the  introduction  of  comic  relief,  and  of  eccentric  char 
acter  for  variety's  sake,  Cooper  also  showed  more  tact  in  the 
later  Leather-stocking  Tales.  Many  of  his  eccentric  and  comic 
characters  are  interesting,  but  he  sometimes  forgot  that  the  fine 
art  of  depicting  a  bore  consists  in  enabling  the  reader  to  smile 
at  the  sufferings  of  the  bore's  victims.  When  the  sensations 
of  the  victim  are  transferred  to  the  reader  there  is  something 
wrong  with  the  author's  method.  There  are  far  too  many  of 
these  aids  to  cheerful  reading  in  The  Pioneers.  In  The  Deer- 
slayer  they  have  entirely  disappeared.  Leatherstocking  himself, 
a  creation  of  eccentric  character  in  the  larger  sense,  is,  of  course, 
the  most  original  creation  of  American  fiction  and  the  finest, 
because  at  once  the  most  human  and  the  most  simply  poetic, 
expression  of  that  idealization  of  the  unconventional  which  had 

•  made  many  appearances  in  fiction  since  Rousseau  invented  the 
primitive  virtues. 

The  comparative  neglect  of  Cooper's  sea-stories  is  perhaps 
due  to  the  absence  of  any  one  dominating  personage  to  give 
the  unity  found  in  the  Leather-stocking  Tales.  In  his  first 
sea-tale,  The  Pilot,  Cooper  discovered  in  Long  Tom  Coffin  a 
worthy  companion  to  Natty  Bumppo;  but  Long  Tom  went 
down  with  his  ship,  and  consequently  became  unavailable  for 
the  purposes  of  fiction,  as  Cooper  undoubtedly  lacked  the  in- 


90 

genuity  in  arranging  resurrections  which  was  displayed  by  his 
contemporary,  John  Neal.  None  of  his  other  mariners  ever 
equalled  the  salty  picturesqueness  of  Long  Tom.  Most  of 
them  are  excellent,  but  some  are  loud-voiced  and  tarry  old 
bores. 

In  character  drawing,  apart  from  the  Leather  stocking  and 
Long  Tom,  Cooper,  although  sometimes  successful,  was  in 
ferior  to  Scott  both  in  vividness  and  in  variety.  The  interest 
of  his  stories,  apart  from  these  two  personages,  is  in  his  extra 
ordinary  invention  of  adventure — perhaps  seen  at  its  best  in 
The  Last  of  the  Mohicans — and  in  their  natural  setting  of  sea 
or  forest. 

Cooper's  landscape1  shows  less  of  the  influence  of  Mrs.  Rad- 
cliffe  than  does  that  of  Scott, — perhaps  because  his  subjects 
were  less  like  hers.  His  descriptive  methods  are  simple,  with 
little  enumeration  of  minor  detail  and  very  few  color  words, 
yet  he  obtains  wonderful  effects  of  space,  and  mass,  and  atmos 
phere  in  his  forest  scenes,  and  in  his  sea  scenes  he  gives  the 
actual  illusion  of  wind  and  weather.  The  sea  is  less  a  feature 
in  the  landscape,  and  more  a  living  thing,  to  him  than  to  Scott. 
His  fresh  water  is  fresh  and  his  salt  water  is  salt,  and  their 
"  gifts  "  are  as  diverse  and  as  conscientiously  rendered  as  those 
of  Natty  Bumppo  and  Chingachgook.  His  descriptions  have 
not  the  elaboration  of  pictorial  effect  common  in  modern  de 
scriptive  writing,  nor  do  they  convey  much  information  of  the 
habits  and  conversation  of  bears  and  rabbits,  but  they  are  un 
surpassed  in  poetic  dignity,  and  in  their  impression  of  the 
silence  and  mystery  of  great  forests  or  trackless  wastes  of  sea. 

It  is  not  possible  to  discuss  in  detail  here  even  those  of 
Cooper's  novels  which  were  published  before  1830 — much  less 
the  whole  thirty-two.  After  Lionel  Lincoln  came  the  most 
popular  of  the  Leatherstocking  Tales,  The  Last  of  the  Mohicans, 
in  1826.  The  Prairie,  in  1827,  described  the  Leatherstocking's 
extreme  old  age  and  death.  In  1828  appeared  The  Red  Rover, 
one  of  Cooper's  best  sea  stories,  followed  by  the  less  successful 
Indian  tale  of  early  New  England,  The  Wept  of  Wish  ton 
Wish.  Too  much  mystifying  clap-trap  cumbers  The  Water 
Witch  (1830),  interesting  though  the  tale  is  when  it  deals  with 

1  See  Balzac  on  Cooper's  landscape,  quoted  in  Lounsbury. 


91 

ships  and  the  sea,  and  the  work  is  further  weighted  by  the 
presence  of  a  would-be  comic  Dutch  merchant,  whose  chief 
contribution  to  the  general  gaiety  is  a  Bob  Acres-like  adjust 
ment  of  the  expletive  to  the  emergency. 

Several  of  these  novels  were  written  during  Cooper's  wan 
derings  in  Europe.  On  his  return  he  used  the  material  obtained 
there  for  a  number  of  tales  in  a  setting  of  European  landscape, 
The  Bravo  in  Venice,  The  Heidenmauer  on  the  Rhine,  and  The 
Headsman  in  Switzerland.  Later  in  the  more  interesting 
Wing  and  Wing,  he  told  a  sea  tale  of  the  Mediterranean.  His 
satirical  novel,  The  Manikins,  is  best  passed  over  in  a  decent 
silence.  Cooper  continued  for  many  years  to  write  sea-stories 
and  forest  romances ;  in  The  Crater  he  tried  the  Robinson 
Crusoe  story;  and  in  The  Ways  of  the  Hour,  his  last  novel, 
published  in  1850,  he  attempted  a  sensational  tale  with  a 
purpose. 

The  Sea  Lions,  published  in  the  preceding  year,  now  derives 
some  interest  from  the  recent  revival  of  Antarctic  exploration, 
and  calls  to  mind  that  unusual  work,  Symzonia,  or  a  Voyage  of 
Discovery,  by  Captain  Adam  Seaborn,  which  had  been  pub 
lished  in  1820  to  ridicule  Symmes's  theory  of  concentric  spheres. 
Symzonia,  in  its  earlier  portions — in  its  account  of  the  specially 
constructed  ship  rivetted  with  copper  instead  of  iron  because 
of  the  magnetic  mountain  which  Sinbad  was  known  to  have 
encountered,  its  account  of  the  voyage  southward,  when  the  ex 
plorers  visit  islands 'and  study  the  habits  of  penguins  and  un 
usual  birds,  in  the  discovery  of  Seaborn's  Land  and  Cape  Lone 
some, — suggests  a  prophetic  caricature  of  modern  explorers' 
tales.  The  Symzonian  portion  of  the  narrative  begins  when  the 
explorers  reach  a  southern  polar  opening  and  find  a  Eutopian 
nation  flourishing  within  it.  Cooper's  tale,  later  in  time  and  more 
serious  in  purpose  than  Symzonia,  has  no  scientific  marvel  to 
compete  with  the  achievement  just  mentioned ;  indeed,  the  tale 
does  not  reach  the  extreme  polar  regions ;  but  there  is  much 
that  is  interesting  in  its  descriptions  of  Antarctic  hardships. 

In  spite  of  their  variety  of  subject,  none  of  Cooper's  later 
tales,  except  The  Deerslayer  and  The  Pathfinder,  and  perhaps 


92 

Wing  and  Wing,  add  anything  to  the  reputation  established  by 
those  published  before  I83O.1 

Perhaps  the  surest,  certainly  the  most  arduous,  road  to  a 
recognition  of  Cooper's  real  greatness,  is  an  attentive  perusal 
of  the  works  of  his  contemporaries  and  imitators.  The  latter 
sprang  up  with  astonishing  promptness.  Scott  had  probably 
filled  them  with  a  vague  idea  of  doing  something  of  the  sort, 
and  Cooper  had  shown  them  how  to  do  it.  As  a  result,  before 
1830,  the  Indian  in  fiction  was  in  almost  as  general  circulation 
as  is  his  portrait  on  a  cent  to-day. 

The  first  of  Cooper's  contemporaries  to  require  mention, 
John  Neal,  did  not,  however,  follow  Cooper  or  anyone  else. 
Neal  said  of  the  popular  Irish  novelist,  Maturin,  that  he  was 
"haunted  by  the  spirit  of  Byron  and  the  devil  himself  at  the 
same  time."  By  adding  the  spirit  of  Maturin  to  these  two 
worthies,  one  obtains  the  ghostly  trio  which  followed  the  steps 
of  Neal. 

His  first  story,  Keep  Cool,  published  in  1818,  apparently 
starts  out  as  an  extravaganza,  and  ends  as  a  tract  against 
duelling,  spiced  with  horrid  examples.  A  portion  of  the  action 
passes  among  Indians,  into  whose  tribe  the  youthful  hero  has 
been  adopted.  Neal  sympathized  passionately  with  their  wrongs 
in  being  driven  from  their  lands,  and  a  thirst  for  human  gore 
was  never  any  drawback  in  his  estimation. 

Neal's  next  novel,  Logan  (1822),  was  more  intentionally  an 
Indian  tale.  It  is  as  wild  and  incoherent  as  Keep  Cool  and 
far  more  bloody.  The  chief  actors  are  Harold,  a  young  man 
"whose  bold  front  had  never  endured  a  hat,"  as  bloodthirsty 
as  an  Indian  and  so  profane  that  a  common  soldier  shakes  at 
his  blasphemy;  and  a  colossal  chief  who  is  apparently  slain 
early  in  the  tale,  but  being  subsequently  brought  to  life  takes 
to  murder  as  a  systematic  occupation.  The  complications  of 
the  tale  are  countless  and  totally  unreasonable.  The  reader 
is  not  surprised  when  Harold's  health  breaks  under  his  sorrows, 
and  in  his  delirium,  on  shipboard,  the  coiled  cordage  seems  to 

1  On  the  other  hand,  few  of  them  can  be  said  positively  to  detract  from 
it,  and  at  least  one  of  the  anti-rent  novels,  Satanstoe,  is  of  importance 
because  of  its  pictures  of  New  York  in  the  colonial  period. 


93 

him  "a  serpent  of  immense  longitude,  covered  with  eyes  and 
hair/'  The  tale  ends  in  an  epidemic  of  death  and  insanity. 

Logan  was  followed  in  1823  by  Seventy-Six  and  Randolph. 
The  latter  is  another  tale  of  a  mysterious  hero,  suspected  of 
having  a  sinister  past  and  an  inky  present,  "  so  damnable  a 
villain  that  his  very  breath  is  poison,"  "a  magician  in  power 
and  a  devil  in  heart,"  who  has  a  strange  and  irresistible  fascina 
tion.  All  the  young  ladies  in  the  story  are  in  love  with  him, 
and  his  experiences  divide  the  honors  of  the  narrative  with  the 
trials  of  a  lovely  young  lady,  Miss  Juliet  R.  Gracie.  The  hero's 
letters  to  an  English  friend  gave  Neal  an  opportunity  to  criti 
cise  contemporary  literature,  both  English  and  American,  in 
cluding  his  own  works.  Southey,  he  said,  had  the  power  of 
making  great  poetry  seem  commonplace  and  commonplace 
poetry  great ;  Coleridge  was  "  an  angel  with  his  wings  clipped." 
He  tried  to  fit  a  phrase  to  nearly  every  author  of  reputation, 
and  displayed  considerable  agility  in  hunting  down  Byron's 
borrowings.  The  tale  proceeds  through  a  labyrinth  of  con 
spiracy,  until  one  of  the  persons  of  the  drama  is  justified  in 
remarking  that  "my  hair  will  never  lie  close  again  while  I 
live."  At  the  end,  by  some  conjuror's  trick,  the  villain  becomes 
a  virtuous  hero.  Errata,  or  the  Works  of  Will  Adams,  pub 
lished  in  the  same  year,  ends  appropriately  in  a  mad  house. 

Brother  Jonathan,  or  the  New  Englanders,  published  in  Lon 
don  in  1825,  enjoys  the  distinction  of  being  the  longest  work 
in  early  American  fiction,  if  not  in  all  American  fiction,  con 
taining,  as  it  does,  over  thirteen  hundred  good-sized,  solidly 
printed  pages.  To  realize  the  formidableness  of  such  a  work, 
one  has  only  to  recall  that  the  first  editions  of  Cooper's  works 
contain  between  five  and  six  hundred  pages.  Brother  Jonathan 
was  apparently  intended  to  be  an  elaborate  study  of  New 
England  customs  and  dialect  at  the  outbreak  of  the  .Revolution, 
but  this  intention  was  abandoned  in  favor  of  a  man  of  mystery, 
an  avenger  of  blood,  an  Indian  chief,  a  prophet,  and  a  general 
incoherency  of  mystery. 

In  Rachel  Dyer,  published  three  years  later,  Neal  attempted 
a  comparatively  restrained  and  thoughtful  study  of  the  witch 
craft  panic  among  the  Massachusetts  settlers,  which  is  not 


94 

without  interest.  This  was  followed  in  1830  by  Authorship, 
which  started  to  be  a  travel  tale,  half -romantic,  half-descriptive, 
but  soon  changed  its  mind  and  became  a  tangle  of  emotions 
and  opinions.  Neal  continued  to  write  novels  after  1830, 
but  it  is  hardly  necessary  to  follow  his  achievements  further. 

His  work  often  gives  an  impression  of  mystery,  of  emotional 
intensity,  and  of  power,  but  it  is  power  gone  to  waste.  He 
vigorously  exploited  his  own  personality,  and  used  his  early 
novels  to  air  his  views.  His  usual  procedure  was  to  provide 
a  preface  full  of  mysterious  hints  exciting  the  reader's  curiosity, 
to  express  his  opinions  political,  literary,  and  miscellaneous,  in 
the  course  of  the  narrative,  and  to  add  an  editorial  note,  in 
which  he  demolished  such  of  his  enemies  as  might  have  been 
overlooked  in  the  body  of  the  tale.  His  views  of  women  were 
pronounced,  and  not  unlike  those  of  Sir  Willoughby  Patterne. 
Apart  from  his  general  incoherency,  his  fatal  defect  was  a 
total  lack  of  any  idea  when  to  stop.  One  always  has  a  vision 
of  him  gaily  writing  away  until  the  ink  bottle  runs  dry,  and 
then  scrawling  in  pencil  a  few  deaths  and  an  insanity  or  two 
in  order  to  end  the  matter. 

Neal's  life1  was  more  interesting  and  more  significant  than 
his  novels.  A  person  of  varied  experience  and  tireless  energy, 
he  is  said  to  have  been  the  first  American  to  make  regular 
contributions  to  the  English  quarterlies,  he  acted  as  a  self- 
appointed  advertising  agent  of  America  in  England,  lived  for 
a  while  with  Jeremy  Bentham,  and  on  his  return  to  America 
did  editorial  work,  advocated  violently  a  great  variety  of 
reforms,  and  was  the  early  friend  of  Poe,  and  of  many  other 
struggling  authors. 

The  real  first  fruits  of  The  Spy  is  probably  James  McHenry's 
The  Wilderness,  or  Braddock's  Times,  published  in  1823.  Mc- 
Henry  was  of  Irish  birth  and  was  always  filled  with  a  desire 
to  give  his  just  dues  to  the  Ulsterman,  neglected  in  the  Irish 
fiction  of  the  time.  Consequently  the  tale  is  concerned  with 
an  Irish  family  from  Ulster,  established  far  in  the  wilderness, 
and  on  friendly  terms  with  a  coquettish  Indian  queen,  a  sort 

1  Neal  describes  his  adventures  in  an  autobiography,  Wandering  Recol 
lections  of  a  Somewhat  Busy  Life  (1869). 


95 

of  copper-colored  Elizabeth.  The  real  interest  of  the  story, 
however,  is  in  the  spectacle  presented  to  the  reader  of  George 
Washington  in  the  throes  of  a  first,  and  a  hopeless,  passion. 
In  the  wilderness,  to  which  his  military  duties  have  led  him, 
he  meets  the  lovely  Maria  who,  although  brought  up  from 
infancy  as  a  member  of  the  humble  Irish  family,  has  managed 
to  fulfill  her  destiny  as  a  high  born  heroine,  and  consequently 
an  elegant  female.  Unfortunately  Maria's  heart  is  already 
another's — Washington's  blandishments  are  in  vain,  although 
he  soars  to  heights  of  impassioned  eloquence  when  in  her 
presence,  and  when  forced  to  depart  leaves  with  her  a  hand 
somely  bound  copy  of  Shenstone's  Poems,  with  passages 
marked  in  "  that  most  simple  and  tender  of  all  poetical  effusions 
the  Pastoral  Ballad."  When  Maria  is  carried  off  and  im 
prisoned  by  the  villainous  commander  of  Fort  Duquesne,  the 
enamoured  George  disguises  himself  as  an  Indian,  and  snatches 
his  Maria  to  safety  through  a  thousand  dangers.  But,  con 
vinced  at  length  that  her  affections  are  unshakably  devoted  to 
her  Charles,  he  bows  to  the  inevitable,  and  decides  that  since 
joy  is  forever  denied  him  he  will  devote  his  life  to  his  country. 

In  the  same  year  McHenry  published  The  Spectre  of  the 
Forest,  or  Annals  of  the  Housatonic,  a  New  England  romance; 
and  in  1824  and  1826  he  made  a  contribution  to  his  self-imposed 
task  of  "  delineating  the  character,  objects,  and  proceedings  of 
each  of  the  principal  insurrectionary  confederacies  that  have 
for  the  last  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  affected  Ireland." 
O'Halloran,  or  the  Insurgent  Chief  and  The  Hearts  of  Steel 
made  an  energetic  beginning  of  this  arduous  task,  and  aimed, 
incidentally,  to  correct  the  popular  idea  of  the  buffoonery  of 
the  Irish  character  caused  by  the  Irish  tales  of  the  day.  The 
comic  Irishman  had,  indeed,  become  a  weariness  in  fiction. 
The  Wilderness,  however,  contains  a  particularly  virulent  ex 
ample  of  the  type  in  the  hero's  Irish  servant,  so  that  McHenry 
seems  doubtfully  consistent. 

Of  all  these  writers  of  adventure  stories,  the  best  equipped 
in  actual  experience  was  Timothy  Flint,  who  had  wandered 
as  a  missionary  in  what  was  then  the  far  West,  and  had  seen 
with  his  own  eyes  the  scenes  which  formed  the  settings  of  his 


96 

stories.1  His  first  novel,  Francis  Berrian,  or  the  Mexican 
Patriot  (1826),  after  a  description  of  the  Mississippi  country, 
discovers  a  new  scene  for  fiction  in  Mexico,  where  the  hero  of 
course  falls  in  love  with  the  beautiful  daughter  of  a  noble  gov 
ernor,  becomes  involved  in  a  Revolution,  and  undergoes  every 
conceivable  affliction,  supported  by  his  love  for  the  heroine  and 
the  sympathy  of  the  inevitable  comic  Irishman. 

In  the  story  already  mentioned,  The  Life  and  Adventures  of 
Arthur  denning  (1828),  Flint  yielded  to  the  seductive  charm 
of  the  Robinson  Crusoe  tale,  and  therewith  pointed  a  moral 
against  aristocratic  prejudices.  The  story  adds  nothing  to  the 
appliances  of  castaway  house-keeping  which  The  Swiss  Family 
Robinson  had  apparently  developed  beyond  the  possibility  of 
emulation.  Many  years  later,  however,  Cooper's  inventive 
genius  made  a  notable  addition  to  the  resources  of  the  ship 
wrecked  by  planting  a  kitchen  garden  in  the  crater  of  an 
extinct  volcano  and  inducing  a  goat  to  adopt  a  sea-weed  diet. 
But  the  less  gifted  Flint  employed  only  the  time-honored  de 
vices  of  this  type  of  romance. 

George  Mason,  or  the  Young  Backwoodsman  (1829)  is  a 
tale  of  pioneer  life  in  the  Mississippi  Valley,  intended  for  the 
edification  of  the  young  mind,  and  full  of  the  year  long  priva 
tions  and  ultimate  prosperity  of  the  virtuous. 

In  The  Shoshonee  Valley  Flint  produced  a  curious  romance 
of  a  white  family  living  among  Indians.  The  Indian  chief 
has  married  a  Spanish  Creole,  and  the  white  man  originally  a 
sailor  has  carried  off  the  charming  daughter  of  a  Chinese 

1  Timothy  Flint  was  born  in  Massachusetts  in  1780,  and  graduated  from 
Harvard  in  1800.  After  two  years  of  theological  study,  and  twelve  as  a 
Congregational  minister  in  the  east,  he  went  west  where  he  acted  as  mis 
sionary  and  travelled  in  Ohio,  Illinois,  and  Arkansas,  and  to  New  Orleans 
and  Florida.  About  1824  he  returned  to  the  north.  In  1826  he  published 
his  Recollections  of  Ten  Years  in  the  Mississippi  Valley,  and  in  1827  a 
Geography  and  History  of  the  Mississippi  Valley.  In  1833  he  was  for  a 
short  time  editor  of  the  Knickerbocker  Magazine.  In  1834  he  moved  to 
Cincinnati  and  for  three  years  edited  Webster's  Monthly  Magazine.  In 
1835  he  contributed  a  series  of  articles  on  American  literature  to  the 
London  Athenaeum.  He  moved  to  Louisiana  for  a  time,  and  was  returning 
to  New  England  when  he  was  buried  in  a  house  blown  down  by  a  tornado. 
He  died  soon  after,  in  1840. 


97 

mandarin.  The  chief's  son,  the  noble  young  Areskoui,  and 
his  rival  Nelesho,  chief  of  a  clan  which  is  allied  with  the 
Shoshonees,  both  desire  to  marry  the  lovely  white  maiden 
Jessie.  The  peace  of  the  valley  is  broken  by  the  arrival  of 
white  visitors,  a  virtuous  young  hero  who  wins  Jessie's  affec 
tions,  and  a  scheming  young  villain.  The  latter,  foiled  in  his 
designs  upon  her,  joins  a  plot  against  the  good  chief  which  is 
formed  by  Nelesho  and  a  wicked  French  trader.  After  various 
plottings,  and  foilings,  and  massacrings,  Jessie  is  carried  off 
to  the  island  of  Ostroklotz,  devoted  to  the  evil  amusements  of 
the  Russian  fur  traders.  After  her  rescue  and  return  to  the 
valley  Areskoui,  seeing  that  his  hopeless  devotion  is  standing 
between  Jessie  and  happiness,  magnanimously  throws  himself 
into  the  lake.  But  his  sacrifice  is  in  vain.  Repeated  trials 
have  shaken  Jessie's  reason,  and  on  a  voyage  to  China  she  dis 
appears  into  the  ocean.  The  tale  is  full  of  Indian  customs  and 
festivities,  salmon  spearing,  buffalo  hunting,  and  fights  with 
Blackfeet. 

Flint  had  no  gift  for  narrative  or  for  characterization.  Con 
sequently  his  novels  are  not  diverting  as  stories,  but  his  descrip 
tions  are  sometimes  interesting  as  a  result  of  painstaking  and 
detailed  observation.  They  are  entirely  without  the  poetry  of 
Cooper's  landscapes,  and  are  valuable  chiefly  for  their  con 
scientious  enumeration  of  natural  objects,  animals,  and  birds, — 
interesting  as  natural  history,  but  in  pictorial  effect  not  unlike 
an  old-fashioned  wall-paper  of  an  ornithological  pattern. 

In  the  year  following  the  publication  of  Francis  Berrian, 
Mrs.  Anne  Royall  put  forth  her  novel  The  Tennessean.  Pos 
sibly  Flint's  tale  may  have  inspired  her  to  place  in  Mexico  the 
scenes  of  her  hero's  early  adventures,  and  of  his  only  love,  also 
presided  over  by  a  comic  Irishman.  The  author  herself  is 
said  to  have  been  stolen  in  childhood  by  the  Indians  and  kept 
among  them  fifteen  years — a  fact  which  should  have  given  her 
an  opportunity  to  distance  all  competitors  in  Indian  fiction. 
Unfortunately,  however,  the  Indian  is  almost  the  only  person 
age  then  fashionable  in  light  literature  who  does  not  appear  in 
the  tale.  The  main  ingredients  are  an  impoverished  hero;  a 
8 


98 

devoted  friend ;  a  Mexican  prison ;  a  Spanish  governor's  lovely 
daughter  with  a  comic  Irish  servant;  an  escape  to  Havana; 
pirates ;  a  cave  full  of  monsters  of  iniquity ;  a  long-lost  nautical 
uncle  with  a  noble  heart,  unlimited  money,  absolutely  no 
grammar,  and  a  black  servant,  Sambo ;  a  persecuted  maiden ; 
three  heartless  females  and  two  compassionate  ones ;  a  major 
villain  who  perishes,  and  two  minor  villains  who  repent.  Wine 
flows  as  freely  as  did  blood  in  Logan,  thus  giving  a  pleasing 
air  of  conviviality,  which  the  frequent  consumption  of  a  re 
past,  consisting  of  "  a  cold  cheek,"  seems  strangely  to  enhance. 
Reunions  of  long  lost  friends  occur  with  startling  frequency, 
and  at  the  end  the  hero  is  even  reunited  with  his  father's  an 
cient  steed  Pompey.  The  tale  seems  to  be  a  hesitation  between 
the  new  novel  of  adventure  and  the  old  novel  of  domestic  trials 
and  persecuted  virtue. 

Of  the  writers  of  combined  historical  and  Indian  fiction  who 
toiled  in  the  path  of  Cooper,  not  the  worst,  perhaps,  is  N.  M. 
Hentz1  the  author  of  Tadeuskund,  the  Last  King  of  the  Lenape, 
published  in  1825.  His  story  is  not  a  work  of  genius,  or  of 
striking  talent ;  but  it  is  painstaking,  carefully  constructed,  and 
free  from  many  of  the  absurdities  which  adorn  some  contem 
porary  romances.  Like  most  of  them,  however,  the  author 
attempted  a  far  more  complicated  plot  than  Cooper  gave  to 
his  Indian  tales,  and  thus  could  hardly  have  achieved  Cooper's 
broad  and  simple  effects,  even  if  he  had  possessed  the  other 
gifts  for  such  work.  His  descriptions  of  the  forests  of  Penn 
sylvania  and  of  Indian  customs  are  rather  labored,  but  there  is 
interest  in  the  warfare  between  the  Indians  and  the  troop  of 
volunteer  Indian  fighters,  and  in  the  picture  of  Tadeuskund, 
a  "  just  Indian,"  as  the  Leather-stocking  would  have  called  him. 
Tadeuskund  is  a  friend  of  the  whites,  but  he  is  unable  to  re 
strain  his  people,  and  at  length  falls  a  prey  to  "  the  poison  of 
forgetfulness,"  as  did  Chingachgook.  His  adopted  daughter, 

*N.  M.  Hentz  was  of  French  birth,  and  was  at  one  time  associated 
with  George  Bancroft  in  the  Round  Hill  School  at  Northampton.  During 
his  life  he  seems  to  have  been  chiefly  known  as  the  husband  of  the  popular 
poetess  and  novelist,  Caroline  Lee  Whiting,  whom  he  married  in  1825. 
They  taught  for  many  years  in  various  parts  of  the  South.  Hentz  died  in 
1856. 


99 

the  young  squaw  Elluwia,  a  white  girl  brought  up  among  the 
Indians,  is  the  more  creditable  to  Hentz's  invention  in  that  she 
appeared  before  The  Wept  of  Wish  ton  Wish. 

A  curious  combination  of  Revolutionary  adventure,  and  the 
tale  of  Scottish  life  and  peculiarities,  may  be  found  in  Leslie 
Link  field  (1826).  Mungo  Coultershoggle,  the  author,  was 
apparently,  from  what  one  can  gather  in  his  works,  a  Scots 
man  resident  for  a  while  in  America.  His  first  novel  Gosling- 
tan  Shadow  had  placed  its  scenes  entirely  in  Scotland,  with 
only  a  few  references  to  America  toward  the  close  of  the  work. 
But  in  Leslie  Linkfield  most  of  the  chief  personages  of  the 
tale  are  brought  across  the  ocean  by  the  war.  There  are  a  hero 
stolen  in  infancy  and  for  a  time  protected  by  a  blind  piper 
"  Whistling  Willie,"  who  although  neither  of  them  know  it,  is 
his  noble  grandfather  under  attainder  for  adhering  to  the  Stuart 
cause,  a  villainous  pedlar,  the  lovely  and  extremely  elegant 
daughter  of  a  colonel,  and  various  minor  personages.  The 
scene  shifts  again  to  Scotland  where  virtue  is  rewarded  and 
villainy  punished,  after  the  most  approved  fashion. 

A  few  tales  of  unknown  authorship  make  further  contribu 
tions  to  our  knowledge  of  the  more  sentimental  aspects  of  the 
Revolutionary  War.  Of  these  the  most  elaborate  is  Saratoga 
(1825)  which  offers  the  novelty  of  a  converted  Indian,  the 
devoted  henchman  of  an  officer  in  the  American  army.  The 
tale  contains  some  bloodshed,  much  sentiment,  and  a  good  deal 
of  mystification  and  misunderstanding. 

A  Sketch  of  the  Olden  Time,  or  General  Lee's  Farewell 
Dinner  at  New  York  (1829),  described  on  its  title  page  as  the 
first  of  a  series  of  Revolutionary  tales  by  an  Antiquary,  is  a 
pamphlet  of  only  forty-four  pages,  apparently  the  work  of 
some  one  desiring  to  unburden  his  mind  of  the  results  of  a 
little  not  too  arduous  research. 

The  Betrothed  of  Wyoming  has  the  ustfal  hero  and  heroine, 
the  wonted  villain,  an  iniquitous  Indian,  and  a  Hermit  who 
lives  in  the  Wood.  It  is  a  thin  and  tiresome  tale  whose  diction 
in  such  phrases  as,  "  thou  shalt  be  mine  ere  long,  or  perdition 
shall  seize  us  both,"  or  in  "  hie  hence,  lest  if  thou  frettest  me 
in  my  madness  I  slay  thee,"  seems  borrowed  from  the  rashest 


100 

imitators  of  Scott  rather  than  from  those  of  Cooper.  The 
tone  of  the  tale  rises  from  a  sigh  to  a  shriek,  but  never  attains 
the  accents  of  reason. 

Although  many  of  these  tales  of  adventure  had  a  vaguely 
historical  background,  none  of  them  attempted  exactness  of 
detail  or  vivid  historical  coloring.  There  was,  however,  a  little 
group  who  took  their  literary  mission  more  seriously.  Just  as 
the  first  generation  of  women  novelists  in  Massachusetts  had 
written  sentimental  tales  with  an  educational  intention,  the 
second  generation  carried  on  their  work  in  historical  romances, 
quite  as  conscientiously  undertaken,  and  in  intention  almost 
as  didactic. 

Of  the  three  New  England  women  who  patriotically  under 
took  to  revive  the  early  history  of  Massachusetts,  one,  Harriet 
Vaughan  Cheney,  was  the  daughter  of  Hannah  Foster,  the 
author  of  The  Coquette;  another,  Catherine  Maria  Sedgwick, 
was  the  most  persistent  and  the  most  successful  of  the  women 
novelists  of  the  period ;  but  the  name  of  the  third,  Lydia  Maria 
Child,1  has  been  preserved  by  her  activities  as  an  abolitionist. 
All  these  ladies  describe  the  usual  aspects  of  colonial  gloom, 
the  Sabbaths,  the  theological  discussions,  the  criticism  of  frivo 
lous  clothing,  the  arrangement  of  the  houses,  the  rigor  of  pater 
nal  discipline,  and,  oddly  enough,  show  a  leaning  toward  the 
outcast  Episcopalianism, — indeed,  the  crisis  in  the  history  of 
Mrs.  Child's  first  heroine  is  precipitated  by  her  father's  rage 
at  the  sight  of  a  prayer-book. 

Mrs.  Child's  Hobomok  (1824)  is  a  tale — suggested  by  a  re 
view  of  Yamoyden,2  a  long  narrative  poem  by  R.  C.  Sands 

1  Lydia  Maria  Francis  was  born  in  Massachusetts  but  spent  her  child 
hood  in  Maine.  In  1826  she  married  David  L.  Child  and  soon  after 
became  connected  with  The  Juvenile  Miscellany  and  wrote  several  books  on 
matters  of  domestic  economy  as  well  as  biographies  of  famous  women.  In 
l%33  appeared  her  best  known  work,  her  Appeal  for  that  Class  of  Americans 
called  Africans.  In  1835  she  published  an  Athenian  romance  Philothea. 
In  1841  she  and  Mr.  Child  became  editors  of  the  National  Anti-Slavery 
Standard.  Her  active  life  was  filled  with  various  literary  undertakings — 
poems  and  stories  for  annuals,  letters  giving  impressions  of  New  York, 
and  an  elaborate  work  on  the  Progress  of  Religious  Ideas. 

z  This  review  in  the  North  American  Review,  1821,  Vol.  XII,  p.  466, 
calls  attention  to  the  "  unequaled  fitness  of  our  early  history  for  a  work 
of  fiction,"  and  dwells  on  the  possibilities  of  the  early  days  of  New  England 
and  of  the  Indians,  "  a  separate  and  strongly  marked  race  of  men." 


101 

and  J.  W.  Eastburn, — in  which  a  girl  of  great  piety  and  native 
"  elegance  of  mind,"  distraught  at  the  death  of  her  mother  and 
the  supposed  drowning  of  her  lover,  becomes  the  bride  of 
Hobomok,  a  young  Indian,  a  child  of  nature.  "  Philosophy 
had  never  held  up  her  shield  against  the  sun  and  placed  her 
dim  taper  in  his  hand."  Consequently,  his  language  is  "  brief, 
figurative  and  poetic,"  and  his  nature  is  "unwarped  by  the 
artifices  of  civilized  life."  Hobomok  is  a  gentle  youth  of  do 
mestic  tastes  who  walks  with  a  heavy  tread  and  when  hunting 
bounds  through  the  forest,  whistling  and  singing,  in  a  manner 
that  one  feels  would  have  been  displeasing  to  Chingachgook. 
At  the  return  of  his  wife's  beloved,  not  drowned  after  all, 
Hobomok's  noble  soul  teaches  him  to  divorce  her,  in  the  Indian 
manner,  and  go  away  to  die  among  strangers. 

Mrs.  Child's  next  book,  The  Rebels,  or  Boston  before  the 
Revolution  (1825),  is  concerned,  so  far  as  it  touches  history, 
with  the  Stamp  Tax  agitation,  and  much  political  talk  is  put 
in  the  mouths  of  the  actors  in  the  tale  who  gather  around  Gov 
ernor  Hutchinson  and  Dr.  Byles.  The  story  itself  is  of  a  sen 
sational  character,  and  a  moral  tendency,  and  hardly  requires 
analysis. 

These  two  stories  of  colonial  times  were  written  when  the 
author  was  twenty-two.  Although  they  do  not  display  any 
great  mastery  of  the  art  of  novel-writing,  they  have  a  dis 
arming  simplicity  of  spirit  which  makes  them  more  agreeable 
reading  than  the  egotistical  tirades  of  the  infinitely  more  gifted 
Neal. 

The  second  of  these  three  authoresses,  Mrs.  Cheney, 
had  a  less  varied  literary  career  than  did  her  two  sister  nov 
elists.  Her  first  book,  A  Peep  at  the  Pilgrims  in  1636,  pub 
lished  in  1825,  is  a  rather  extensive  peep  in  two  volumes,  and 
includes,  among  other  Plymouth  worthies,  Miles  Standish,  who 
is  represented  as  an  affable  old  gentleman  of  an  enterprising 
turn  of  mind.  Sabbaths,  and  sermons,  and  rebuking  of  vain 
glorious  garments  do  their  part  toward  furnishing  a  sad-colored 
background.  In  her  second  story,  The  Rivals  of  Acadia  (1827), 
Mrs.  Cheney  found  a  new  scene  for  the  usual  mixture  of  senti 
ment  and  adventure. 


102 

Catherine  Maria  Sedgwick1  had  acquired  some  experience 
as  a  novel-writer  before  she  attempted  historical  fiction.  Her 
first  story,  A  New  England  Tale,  or  Sketches  of  New  England 
Character  and  Manners  (1822),  represented  the  life  of  a  New 
England  village,  without  the  use  of  dialect  and  somewhat  in 
the  religious  novel  style.  Redwood,  her  next  work,  belongs 
rather  to  the  novel  of  manners,  reminiscent  of  Miss  Edgeworth, 
and  with  religious  complications.  The  scenes  include  a  Ver 
mont  village,  a  Shaker  community,  and  a  fashionable  watering 
place. 

After  Redwood  came  the  Travellers  (1825),  a  tale  for  the 
young,  and  then,  in  1827,  Hope  Leslie,  or  Early  Times  in  the 
Massachusetts,  which  was  reprinted  in  London  in  1828.  The 
earlier  part  of  Hope  Leslie  has  a  decided  resemblance  to  The 
Wept  of  Wish  ton  Wish  which  appeared  two  years  later.  The 
scene  is  a  farm  on  the  Connecticut  border,  to  which  are  brought 
two  captive  children  of  an  Indian  chief.  They  are  kindly 
treated,  but  are  regained  by  the  Indians  in  a  massacre.  A 
white  child  is  carried  off,  brought  up  among  the  Indians,  and 
becomes  the  wife  of  the  Indian  boy,  formerly  her  playmate  at 
the  farm.  When  captured  and  returned  to  her  white  friends, 
she  pines  silently  until  rescued  by  her  Indian  husband.  Here 
the  resemblance  to  Cooper's  story  ends.  Miss  Sedgwick 
moves  the  scene  of  her  tale  to  Boston  where  the  noble  Indian 
girl,  who  in  childhood  had  saved  a  white  boy  and  lost  her  own 
arm  by  throwing  herself  Pocahontas-like  before  the  toma 
hawks,  is  imprisoned,  and  is  rescued  by  Hope  Leslie  and  her 
tutor,  -a  colonial  Dominie  Sampson.  The  story  is  managed 
with  some  skill,  and  is  a  striking  improvement  on  Miss  Sedg- 
wick's  earlier  stories.  Hope  Leslie,  herself,  is  a  real  person, 
and  rather  an  attractive  person,  and  although  some  of  her 

1  Catherine  Maria  Sedgwick  was  born  in  Stockbridge,  where  she  passed 
most  of  her  life.  Of  this  place  Duyckinck  says  that  "  its  widespread  celeb 
rity  is  to  be  ascribed  far  more  to  the  reputation  which  Miss  Sedgwick's  de 
scriptions  and  works  have  given  it  than  to  its  great  natural  advantages  " 
(Duyckinck,  1875  edition,  II,  82).  Miss  Sedgwick's  other  writings  include 
Clarence,  1830;  Le  Bossu,  1832;  The  Linwoods,  1835;  Letters  from  Abroad 
to  Kindred  at  Home,  1840,  and  many  contributions  to  periodicals,  and 
moral  short  stories  for  children. 


103 

friends  and  acquaintances  are  the  stock  figures  of  such  tales 
others  have  real  individualities. 

Among  other  tales  of  this  productive  period  are  two  Indian 
romances,  Tokeah,  or  the  White  Rose  and  The  Sanfords,  or 
Home  Scenes,  and  two  novels  by  Catherine  Julia  Hart,  Can 
ada's  first  novelist,  one  a  tale  of  convent  friendship  and  "  high 
life  "  in  England,  and  the  other,  Tonnewonte,  a  tale  of  frontier 
life  with  a  foundling  hero  who  proves  to  be  a  son  of  the 
Marquis  de  Beaucaire.  Hawthorne's  Fanshawe  appeared  in 
1828.  Mrs.  S.  J.  Hale  published  in  1827  Northwood,  a  tale 
of  a  New  England  village,  and  several  other  stories,  adven 
turous  or  sentimental,  found  their  way  into  print. 

Although  James  Kirk  Paulding  published  one  long  story  in 
this  decade,  his  main  activity  as  a  romancer  falls  beyond  the 
period  considered  here.  Konigsmarke,  or  the  Long  Finne 
(1823)  can  hardly  be  taken  seriously  as  a  romance,  although 
what  unity  it  possesses  is  given  by  its  love  story.  It  seems  to 
combine  a  satire  on  Scott,  begun  but  not  carried  through  the 
work,  humorous  descriptions  of  a  Swedish  settlement  some 
what  in  the  Knickerbocker  style,  and  a  tale  of  Indian  adven 
ture.  Paulding's  chief  productions  at  this  period  belong  to 
the  history  of  humorous  writing,  or  of  the  short  story,  rather 
than  to  that  of  the  novel. 

This  necessarily  brief  and  imperfect  account  of  the  chief 
followers  of  Cooper  must  at  least  have  made  it  clear  that 
Cooper  was  in  no  danger  of  being  driven  from  the  field  by  the 
merits  of  his  rivals.  Of  his  three  great  types  of  romance  the 
sea  tale  remained  untouched  until  after  I83O,1  while  the  his 
torical  tale  and  the  Indian  romance  were  at  once  fondly  adopted 
and  generally  merged  into  the  historical  tale  garnished  with 
Indians.  In  all  these  tales  there  was  too  much  complication 
of  plot  and  action ;  and  many  of  the  writers  fell  into  the  deeper 
error  of  taking  the  Indian  out  of  his  natural  background  of 
forest  and  lake,  and  putting  him  into  the  white  man's  back- 

JThe  Connecticut  poet,  J.  G.  C.  Brainerd,  introduced  a  few  sea  scenes, 
including  the  capture  of  Captain  Kidd,  in  his  story,  Fort  Braddock  Letters, 
but  the  greater  part  of  the  slender  volume  is  devoted  to  the  French  and 
Indian  War. 


104 

ground  of  settlement  or  city.  Most  of  them  had  no  personal 
experience  of  wilderness  life,  and  those  who  had  it  lacked  the 
genius  that  could  make  it  live  again  for  others.  At  their  best 
their  Indians  are  sentimentalized  ghosts  of  Cooper's, — at  their 
worst  they  resemble  the  wooden  Indian  of  commerce  for  whom 
they  might  serve  as  models.  Yet,  mediocre  in  quality  as  is  the 
work  of  Cooper's  contemporaries,  it  has  not,  for  the  most  part, 
the  tentative  amateurishness  of  Charles  Brockden  Brown's  con 
temporaries  and  predecessors. 

The  originality  and  power  of  Brown's  work  had  no  stimu 
lating  effect  on  the  aspiring  novelists  of  his  day.  He  founded 
no  school.  But  the  very  promptness  with  which  Cooper's 
example  was  seized  upon,  and  the  quantity  of  the  tales  of  adven 
ture  which  at  once  appeared,  are  evidence  that  the  novel  had 
at  last  found  a  foothold  in  American  literature.  In  the  decade 
from  1820  to  1830,  both  the  short  story  and  the  novel  became 
established  in  American  fiction,  the  one  by  Irving  and  Pauld- 
ing,  the  other  by  Cooper.  But  what  gave  body  and  an  assur 
ance  of  continuity  to  the  movement  was  the  presence  of  those 
uninspired,  but  diligent  and  conscientious,  writers  who  toiled 
over  tales  of  Indian  adventure  or  historical  romances,  more  or 
less  in  the  manner  of  Cooper,  or  who  fastened  flimsy  short 
stories  into  a  framework,  in  supposed  emulation  of  Irving. 

The  history  of  the  first  forty  years  of  American  novel  writ 
ing  is  not  one  of  steady  advance  or  of  progressive  development,  it 
is  rather  that  of  a  series  of  experiments,  not  growing  out  of  each 
other,  but  related  only  through  their  common  aim.  The  early 
period  of  enthusiastically  patriotic  amateurishness  seems  to 
culminate  in  the  work  of  Charles  Brockden  Brown,  and  then 
to  suffer  a  decline.  But  Brown's  work  is  not  related  to  that 
of  any  of  his  predecessors.  Like  them  he  looks  to  England 
for  his  general  form,  and  contents  his  patriotic  zeal  with  the 
employment  of  native  materials.  Again,  when  Cooper  revived 
the  languishing  American  novel,  he  received  his  impulse  from 
British  fiction,  and  adopted  the  type  of  romance  then  prevail 
ing  in  England.  But  like  his  predecessors  he  used  American 
material,  and  in  his  best  work  he  realized  their  ambition  to  give 
expression  to  American  life  and  ideals.  Mrs.  Morton,  who 


105 

had  led  in  the  patriotic  endeavor  to  supply  America  with  a 
fiction  of  its  own,  lived  to  see  the  publication  of  all  but  five  or 
six  of  Cooper's  thirty-two  novels,  so  that  her  lifetime  saw  the 
early  attempts  to  give  national  individuality  to  tales  of  the 
time-worn  didactic  and  sentimental  types,  the  brief  reign  of 
the  marvellous,  the  first  experimenting  with  historical  and 
Indian  materials,  and  finally  saw  those  materials  rediscovered 
and  shaped  into  romances  which,  although  without  the  didactic 
intention  of  her  own  work,  must  have  fulfilled  her  desire  for 
something  wholly  and  typically  American.  It  is  perhaps  a  coin 
cidence,  but  at  least  an  agreeable  coincidence,  that  the  first 
great  American  novelist  should  so  fully  have  realized  the  ambi 
tions  of  his  humble  and  almost  forgotten  predecessors. 


106 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

PART  I  —  CHRONOLOGICAL  LIST  OF  EARLY  AMERICAN  NOVELS 

TO  1830. 

THIS  list  differs  from  Mr.  Wegelin's  bibliography  of  early 
American  fiction  in  that:  (i)  It  contains  a  number  of  addi 
tional  titles.  (2)  It  omits  a  few  titles  which  in  his  list  seemed 
to  be  reprints  of  English  works.  (3)  It  includes  only  novels, 
and  does  not  consider  juveniles,  short  stories,  political  alle 
gories,  or  translations.  (4)  It  is  arranged  chronologically,  not 
alphabetically.  Under  each  year,  however,  the  anonymous 
works  are  placed  first,  and  are  followed  by  those  of  known 
authors  in  alphabetical  order. 

*  Indicates  a  title  which  does  not  appear  in  Mr.  Wegelin's 
Bibliography. 

f  Indicates  the  title  of  a  work  which  has  not  been  used  in 
.preparing  this  study,  but  is  included  in  the  bibliography  for 
the  sake  of  completeness. 

As  far  as  possible  long  descriptive  titles  have  been  given 
entire,  but  quotations  occurring  on  title  pages,  printer's  or  pub 
lisher's  names,  and  lists  of  booksellers  have  been  omitted. 

1789 

i.f  Morton,  Sarah  Wentworth  —  The  Power  of  Sympathy: 

/          or    the    Triumph    of    Nature.     Founded    in    Truth. 

-    )         Boston,  1789.    2  vols. 


2.  Hitchcock,  Enos,  D.D.  (See  also  No.  6)  —  Memoirs 
of  the  Bloomsgrove  Family,  in  a  series  of  letters  to 
a  respectable  Citizen  of  Philadelphia.  Containing 
Sentiments  on  a  Mode  of  domestic  Education,  Suited 
to  the  present  State  of  Society,  Government,  and 
Manners,  in  the  United  States  of  America:  and  on 
the  dignity  of  the  Female  Character.  Interspersed 
with  a  Variety  of  Interesting  Anecdotes.  By  Enos 
Hitchcock,  D.D.  Boston,  1790.  2  vols. 


107 

1792 

3.  Brackenridge,  Hugh  Henry — Modern  Chivalry,  or  the 
Adventures  of  Captain  John  Farrago,  and  Teague 
O'Regan  his  Servant.  By  H.  H.  Brackenridge.  Part 
I,  Philadelphia,  1792.  Part  II,  Philadelphia,  1792 
(misdated  MDCCXIL).  Part  III,  Pittsburg,  1793 
(misdated  MDCCXIIL).  Part  IV,  Philadelphia, 
1797. 

1793 

*  4.     The  Hapless  Orphan,  or  Innocent  Victim  of  Revenge. 

A  Novel  founded  on  Incidents  in  Real  Life.  In  a 
series  of  letters  from  Caroline  Francis  to  Maria 
B .  By  an  American  Lady.  Boston,  1793. 

*  5.     Bleecker,  Ann  Eliza — The  Posthumous  Works  of  Ann 

Eliza  Bleecker  in  Prose  and  Verse.  To  which  is 
added  a  Collection  of  Essays,  Prose  and  Poetical,  by 
Margaretta  V.  Faugeres.  New  York,  1793. 

*  6.     Hitchcock,  Enos,  D.D.    (See  also  No.  2)— The  Farmer's 

Friend,  or  the  History  of  Mr.  Charles  Worthy,  who 
from  being  a  poor  Orphan,  rose  through  various  scenes 
of  distress  and  misfortunes,  to  Wealth  and  Eminence 
by  Industry,  Economy  and  Good  Conduct.  Inter 
spersed  with  many  Useful  and  Entertaining  Narra 
tives  suited  to  please  the  Fancy,  improve  the  Under 
standing,  and  mend  the  Heart.  By  Enos  Hitchcock, 
D.D.  Boston,  1793. 

*  7.     Imlay,  Gilbert — The  Emigrants,  or  the  History  of  an 

Expatriated  Family,  being  a  Delineation  of  English 
Character  and  Manners  written  in  America.  Lon 
don,  1793. 

1794 

8.  Rowson,  Susannah.  (See  also  Nos.  9,  10,  12,  25,  61, 
63,  128) — Charlotte,  a  tale  of  Truth,  by  Mrs.  Row- 
son,  of  the  New  Theatre  Philadelphia.  Author  of 
Victoria,  the  Inquisitor,  Fille  de  Chambre,  etc.  Sec 
ond  Philadelphia  edition,  Philadelphia,  1794,  2 


108 

vols.     (This  is  supposed  to    be  the  first  American 
edition.) 
(9.     Lucy  Temple:  or  The  Three  Orphans.     London,  n.  d.) 

10.  Rowson,  Susannah — The   Inquisitor,  or  Invisible  Ramb 

ler.  By  Mrs.  Susannah  Rowson.  Philadelphia, 
1794.  (London,  1788.) 

1795 

11.  The  Art   of    Courting.     Displayed   in    eight   different 

scenes;  the  principal  of  which  are  taken  from  actual 
life,  and  published  for  the  Amusement  of  the  Ameri 
can  Youth.  Newburyport,  1795. 

12.  Rowson,  Susannah — Trials  of  the  Human  Heart.     A 

Novel.  By  Mrs.  Rowson,  of  the  New  Theatre, 
Philadelphia,  author  of  Charlotte,  Fille  de  Chambre, 
etc.  Philadelphia,  1795.  4  vols.  in  two. 

1797. 

13.  Cynthia,  with  the  tragical  account  of  the  unfortunate 

loves  of  Almerin  and  Desdemona:  being  a  novel. 
Illustrated  with  a  variety  of  the  chances  of  fortune; 
moralized  with  many  useful  observations,  whereby 
the  reader  may  reap  both  pleasure  and  profit.  Hart 
ford,  1797.  (Wegelin:  Williamstown,  Mass.,  1798.) 

14.  Female    Friendship    or    the    Innocent    Sufferer.        A 

Moral   Novel.     Hallowell,    1797. 

*  15.     The  Female  Review :    or,  Memoirs    of    an    American 

Young  Lady  Whose  Life  and  Character  are  pecu 
liarly  distinguished :  being  a  continental  soldier,  for  -, 
nearly  three  years  in  the  late  American  War.  ... 
With  an  appendix,  containing  characteristic  traits 
by  different  hands:  her  taste  for  economy,  principles 
of  domestic  education,  etc.  By  a  citizen  of  Massa 
chusetts.  Dedham,  1797. 

*  1 6.     The  History  of    Constantius  and    Pulchera,   or  Con-  ^ 

stancy  Rewarded.  Leominster,  Mass.,  1797.  (New 
York,  1801.) 

*  17.     Love  and  Patriotism,  or,  the  Extraordinary  Adventures 


109 

of  M.  Duportail,  Late  Major-General  in  the  Armies 
of  the  United  States.  Interspersed  with  many  sur 
prising  Incidents  in  the  life  of  the  late  Count  Pu- 
laski.  Philadelphia,  1797. 

*  1 8.  Butler,  James — Fortune's  Football :  or,  the  Adventures 
of  Mercutio.  Founded  on  Matters  of  Fact.  By 
James  Butler.  Harrisburg,  Pennsylvania,  1797.  2 
vols. 

19.  Foster,   Hannah — The   Coquette:   or,   the  History  of 

Eliza  Wharton.  A  novel  founded  on  fact,  by  a 
Lady  of  Massachusetts.  Boston,  1797. 

20.  Tyler,   Royall — The  Algerine  Captive:  or,  The  Life 

and  Adventures  of  Doctor  Updike  Underbill,  a 
Prisoner  among  the  Algerines.  Walpole,  Vt.,  1797. 

1798 

*2i.  Amelia:  or,  the  Faithless  Briton.  An  Original  Ameri 
can  Novel.  To  which  is  added  Amelia:  or,  Malev 
olence  Defeated  and  Miss  Seward's  Monody  on 
Major  Andre.  Boston,  1798. 

22.  The  Fortunate  Discovery:  or,  the  History  of  Henry 

Villars.  By  a  Young  Lady  of  the  State  of  New 
York.  New  York,  1798.  (See  also  No.  36.) 

23.  Brown,  Charles    Brockden.     (See  also  Nos.  27,  28, 

29>  3J>  37>  38,  75) — Wieland:  or,  the  Transforma 
tion.  An  American  Tale.  New  York,  1798. 

24.  Davis,  John.     (See  also  Nos.  32,  46,  47,  60,  68) — The 

Original  Letters  of  Ferdinand  and  Elizabeth.  "  Come 
to  me  this  night !  Bring  with  thee  pistols,  and  when 
the  clock  strikes  twelve  we'll  both  become  immortal !" 
Elizabeth  to  Ferdinand.  New  York,  1798. 

25.  Rowson,    Susannah — Reuben   and   Rachel :   or,   Tales 

of  Olden  Times.     Boston,  1798. 

1799 

*26.     Plain   Sense:   or,  the   History  of   Henry  Villars   and 
k  Ellen  Mordaunt.     A  novel.     Philadelphia,    1799. 

27.     Brown,  Charles  Brockden.     (See  also  Nos.  23,  28,  29, 


110 

31,  37>  38,  75) — Ormond:  or,  the  Secret  Witness. 
New  York,  1799. 

28.  Brown,  Charles  Brockden — Arthur  Mervyn:  or,  Me 
moirs  of  the  Year  1793,  by  the  Author  of  Wieland 
and  Ormond;  or  the  Secret  Witness.  Philadelphia, 
1799.  (First  part.) 

-^29.  Brown,  Charles  Brockden — Edgar  Huntley:  or,  Me 
moirs  of  a  Sleep-Walker,  by  the  Author  of  Arthur 
Mervyn,  Wieland,  Ormond,  etc.  Philadelphia,  1799. 

*  30.     Wells,  Helena.     (See  also  No.  34) — The  Stepmother, 

a  Domestic  Tale,  from  Real  Life.  By  Helena  Wells, 
of  Charlestown,  S.  C.  Second  Edition.  London, 
1799.  2  vols. 

1800 

3 1 .  Brown,  Charles  Brockden.   (  See  also  Nos.  23, 27, 28, 29, 

37,  38,  75) — Arthur  Mervyn:  or,  Memoirs  of  the 
Year  1793.  Second  part.  New  York,  1800. 

32.  Davis,  John.     (See  also  Nos.  24,  46,  47,  60,  68) — The 

Farmer  of  New  Jersey:  a  Tale.    New  York,  1800. 

33.  Sherburne,    Henry — The    Oriental    Philanthropist,    or 

True  Republican.     Portsmouth,  N.  H.,  1800. 

*  34.     Wells,  Helena.     ( See  also  No.  30) — Constantia  Neville : 

or,  the  West  Indian.  By  Helena  Wells,  author  of  the 
Stepmother.  Second  edition.  London,  1800. 
*35-  Wood,  Sally  Sayward  Barrell  Keating.  (See  also 
Nos.  39,  42,  45) — Julia,  and  the  Illuminated  Baron. 
A  Novel.  Founded  on  Recent  Facts  which  have 
transpired  in  the  Course  of  the  late  Revolution  of 
Moral  Principles  in  France.  By  a  Lady  of  Massa 
chusetts.  Portsmouth,  New  Hampshire,  1800. 

1801 

36.  Moreland  Vale:  or,  the  Fair  Fugitive.     By  a  Lady  of 

the  State  of  New  York,  author  of  Henry  Villars. 
New  York,  1801. 

37.  Brown,  Charles  Brockden.    (See  also  Nos.  23,27,  28, 29, 

31,  38,  75) — Clara  Howard,  in  a  Series  of  Letters. 
Philadelphia,  1801. 


Ill 

38.  Brown,  Charles  Brockden — Jane  Talbot,  A  novel.  By 
the  Author  of  Arthur  Mervyn,  Wieland,  Ormond, 
Edgar  Huntley,  and  Clara  Howard.  Philadelphia, 
1801. 

f  39.  Wood,  Sally  Sayward  Barrell  Keating.  (  See  also  Nos, 
35,  42,  45) — Dorval:  or,  the  Speculator.  A  novel 
founded  on  Recent  Facts.  By  a  Lady,  author  of 
Julia.  Portsmouth,  N.  H.,  1801. 

1802 

40.     Momma:  or,  the  Beggar  Girl.     Founded  on  Fact.     By 
an  American  Lady.    New  York,  1802. 
(Wegelin:  Monima:  or,  the  Beggar  Girl.     A  Novel. 
Founded  on  Fact.     Written  by  a  lady  of  Philadel 
phia.     Philadelphia,  1803.) 

-  *4i.     The  Slave  of  Passion,  or  the  Fruits  of  Werter.     Phila 
delphia,  1802. 

42.  Wood,  Sally  Sayward  Barrell  Keating.    (See  also  Nos. 

35,  39,  45) — Amelia :  or,  the  Influence  of  Virtue.  An 
Old  Maid's  Story.  By  a  Lady  of  Massachusetts.  (No 
date.  Copyright,  1802.) 

1803 

43.  Vicery,  Eliza — Emily  Hamilton,  a  Novel.     Founded 

on  Incidents  in  Real  Life.  By  a  Young  Lady  of 
Worcester  County.  Worcester,  1803. 

1804 

44.  The  Memoirs  of  Lafitte,  or  the  Barratarian  Pirate:  A 

Narrative  founded  on  fact.     New  York,  1804. 

45 .  Wood,  Sally  Sayward  Barrell  Keating.     (  See  also  Nos. 

35,  39,  42) — Ferdinand  and  Elmira :  A  Russian  Story. 
By  a  Lady  of  Massachusetts;  author  of  Julia,  the 
Speculator  and  Amelia.  Baltimore,  1804. 

1805 

46.  Davis,  John.     (See  also  Nos.  24,  32,  47,  60,  68)— The 

First  Settlers  of  Virginia,  an  Historical  Novel.    Ex- 


112 

hibiting  a  View  of  the  Rise  and  Progress  of  the 
Colony  of  Jamestown,  a  Picture  of  Indian  Manners, 
the  Countenance  of  the  Country  and  its  Natural  Pro 
ductions.  The  second  edition  considerably  enlarged. 
New  York,  1805. 

>  *  47.     Davis,   John — Walter   Kennedy :    an   American   Tale. 
London,  1805. 

48.  Warren,  Caroline  Matilda — The  Gamesters ;  or,  Ruins 

of  Innocence.  An  Original  Novel  founded  in  Truth. 
Boston,  1805. 

1807 

49.  Margaretta:  or,  the  Intricacies  of  the  Heart.     Phila 

delphia,  1807. 

*  50.     Brown,  W.  H. — Ira  and  Isabella.     Boston,  1807. 

1808 

*  51.     Hassall   (Miss) — Secret  History:  or,  the  Horrors  of 

St.  Domingo,  in  a  series  of  letters,  written  by  a 
Lady  at  Cape  Frangois  to  Colonel  Burr,  late  Vice 
President  of  the  United  States.  Principally  during 
the  command  of  General  Rochambeau.  Philadel 
phia,  1808. 

52.  Tenney,   Tabitha — Female   Quixotism:    exhibited   in 

the  Romantic  Opinions  and  Extravagant  Adven- 
utres  of  Dorcasina  Sheldon.  Newburyport,  1808. 

53.  Watterston,  George.     (See  also  Nos.  56,  79) — The 

Lawyer;  or  Man  as  he  ought  not  to  be.  Pittsburg, 
1808. 

1809 

*  54.     Laura.     By    a    Lady    of    Philadelphia.     New    York, 

1809. 

1810 

55.     Rosa :  or  American  Genius  and  Education.     New  York, 

1810. 

1)1  56.  Watterston,  George.  (  See  also  Nos.  53  and  79) — Glen- 
earn;  or,  the  Disappointments  of  Youth.  A  Novel. 
By  George  Watterston,  Esq.  Author  of  The  Lawyer, 
etc.  Alexandria,  1810. 


113 

i8n 

57.  Mitchell,  Isaac.  (See  also  No.  93)— The  Asylum; 
or,  Alonzo  and  Melissa.  An  American  Tale. 
Founded  on  Fact.  Poughkeepsie,  1811. 

1  1812 

V  *58.     The  Soldier's  Orphan.    A  Novel.     New  York,   1812. 
59.     Rush,  Rebecca — Kelroy,  a  Novel.     By  a  Lady  of  Phil 
adelphia.     1812. 

1813 

*6o.  Davis,  John.  (See  also  Nos.  24,  32,  46,  47,  60, 
68)— The  Post  Captain;  or,  the  Wooden  Walls 
Well  Manned:  Comprehending  a  View  of  Naval 
Society  and  Manners.  First  American,  from  the 
fifth  London  Edition.  Brooklyn,  1813. 

61.  Rowson,  Susannah — Sarah;  or,  the  Exemplary  Wife; 

or  Sincerity.     Boston,   1813. 

1814 

62.  The  Female  American,  or  the  Extraordinary  Adven 

tures  of  Unca  Eliza  Winkfield,  compiled  by  Herself. 
Newburyport,  n.  d.  Vergennes,  Vt.,  1814. 
*  63.     Rowson,  Susannah — Rebecca  or  the  Fille  de  Chambre. 
The   Second  American   Edition,   corrected  and  Re 
vised  by  the  Author.     Boston,  1814. 

1815 

f  64.  The  Sicilian  Pirate ;  or  the  Pillar  of  Mystery :  A  Ter 
rific  Romance.  New  York,  1815. 

1816 

65.  Woodworth,  Samuel — The  Champions  of  Freedom, 
or  the  Mysterious  Chief,  a  Romance  of  the  Nine 
teenth  Century.  Founded  on  the  events  of  the  War 
between  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain  which 
terminated  in  March,  1815.  New  York,  1816.  2 
vols. 
(Wegelin:  1817.) 


114 

*  66.     The  Hero ;  or,  The  Adventures  of  a  Night ;  a  Romance 

Translated  from  the  Arabic  into  Iroquese;  from  the 
Iroquese  into  Hottentot;  from  the  Hottentot  into 
French,  and  from  the  French  into  English.  Phila 
delphia,  1817. 

f  67.  The  Yankee  Traveler :  or,  Adventures  of  Hector  Wig- 
ler.  Concord,  1817. 

> 68.  Davis,  John.  (  See  also  Nos.  24, 32, 46, 47, 60)  — Captain 
Smith  and  Princess  Pocahontas:  an  Indian  Tale. 
Philadelphia,  1817. 

69.  Neal,  John.  (See  also  Nos.  76,  86,  87,  88,  99,  127, 
141) — Keep  Cool,  a  Novel  Written  in  Hot  Weather 
by  Somebody.  .  .  .  Baltimore,  1817. 

1818 

*  70.     Mannering,     Guy  -  pseud. — Rosalvo    Delmonmort,    a 
r  Tale.     Boston,  1818. 

1820 

71.  Cooper,  James  Fenimore.     (See  also  Nos.  73,  82,  83, 

1 06,  112,  117,  122,  134,  139) — Precaution;  a  Novel. 
New  York,  1820.  2  vols. 

72.  Seaborn,  Adam — Symzonia;  a  Voyage  of  Discovery. 

By  Captain  Adam  Seaborn.     New  York,  1820. 

1821 

73.  Cooper,  James  Fenimore — The  Spy;  a  Tale    of    the 

Neutral  Ground.  By  the  author  of  Precaution. 
New  York,  1821.  2  vols. 

1822 

74.  The  Templar;  or  Tales  of  the  Passaic.     Hackensack, 

N.  J.,  1822. 

75.  Brown,  Charles  Brockden.     (See  also  Nos.  23,  27, 

28,  29,  31,  37,  38) — Carwin  the  Biloquist,  and 
other  American  Tales  and  Pieces.  London,  1822. 
2  vols. 

76.  Neal,  John.    ( See  also  Nos.  69, 86, 87, 88, 99, 127, 141 ) — 


115 

Logan,  a  Family  History.    Philadelphia,  1822.   2  vols. 
77.     Sedgwick,  Catherine  Maria.     (See  also  Nos.  95,  100, 

120,   142) — A  New  England  Tale;  or  Sketches  of 

New  England  Character  and  Manners.     New  York, 

1822. 
*  78.     Sproat,  E.  W.— The  Savage  Beauty.    A  Novel.     By  a 

Wild  American.     Philadelphia,  1822. 
f  79.     Watterston,  George.    (See  also  Nos.  53  and  56) — The 

L family  at  Washington,  or  a  Winter  in  the 

Metropolis.    Washington,  1822. 

1823 

80.  The  Florida  Pirate,  or  an  Account  of  the  Schooner 
Esperanza,  with  a  Sketch  of  the  Life  of  her  Com 
mander.  New  York,  1823. 

7  f8i.     Justina,  or  the  Will.     A  Domestic  Story.     New  York, 
1823.     2  vols. 

82.  Cooper,  James  Fenimore.   (See  also  Nos.  71,  73, 83, 106, 

112,  117,  122,  134,  139) — The  Pioneers;  or  the 
Sources  of  the  Susquehanna.  A  Descriptive  Tale. 
By  the  author  of  Precaution.  New  York,  1823. 
2  vols. 

83.  Cooper,  James  Fenimore — The  Pilot;  a  Tale  of  the 

Sea.  By  the  Author  of  the  Pioneers,  etc.  New 
York,  1823.  2  vols. 

84.  McHenry,  James.     (See  also  Nos.  85,  94,  97)— The 

Wilderness,  or  Braddock's  Times.  A  tale  of  the 
West.  New  York,  1823.  2  vols. 

f  85.  McHenry,  James— The  Spectre  of  the  Forest,  or  An 
nals  of  the  Housatonic.  A  New  England  Romance. 
New  York,  1823.  2  vols. 

86.  Neal,  John.    ( See  also  Nos.  69,  76,  87,  88,  99,  127,  141 ) 

— Seventy-Six.  By  the  author  of  Logan.  Baltimore, 
1823.  2  vols. 

87.  Neal,   John— Randolph,   a  Novel.     By  the  author  of 

Logan  and  Seventy-Six.  Published  for  whom  it 
may  concern.  New  York,  1823.  2  vols. 

88.  Neal,  John— Errata ;  or  the  Works  of  Will  Adams,  a 


116 

I 

Tale.  By  the  author  of  Logan,  Seventy-Six,  and 
Randolph.  New  York,  1823.  2  vols. 

89.  Paulding,    James     Kirke — Konigsmarke,    the     Long 

Finne,   a   Story  of    the    New   World.     New  York, 

1823.  2  vols. 

1824 

90.  A  Winter  in  Washington ;  or,  Memoirs  of  the  Seymour 

Family.     New  York,  1824.     2  vols. 

91.  Child,  Lydia  Maria,     (See  also  No.  105) — Hobomok. 

A  Tale  of  Early  Times.  By  an  American.  Boston, 
1824. 

92.  Hart,  Catherine  Julia.     (See  also  No.  109) — St.  Ur 

sula's  Convent,  or  the  Nun  of  Canada.  Containing 
scenes  from  Real  Life.  Kingston,  Upper  Canada, 

1824.  2  vols. 

93.  Jackson,  Daniel,  Jr. — Alonzo  and  Melissa,  or  the  Un 

feeling  Father.  An  American  Tale.  Brattleboro, 
1824.  (A  shortened  version  of  The  Asylum  or 
Alonzo  and  Melissa,  No.  57.)  Probably  a  reprint 
of  the  version  published  at  Plattsburg  in  1811.  ' 

94.  McHenry,  James.     (  See  also  Nos.  84,85,97) — O'Hallo- 

ran,  or  the  Insurgent  Chief,  an  Irish  Historical  Tale 
of  1798.  By  the  author  of  the  Wilderness  and  the 
Spectre  of  the  Forest.  Philadelphia,  1824.  2  v°ls- 

95.  Sedgwick,  Catherine  Maria.     (See  also  Nos.  77,  100, 

120,  142) — Redwood:  a  Tale.  By  the  author  of  "A 
New  England  Tale."  New  York,  1824.  2  vols. 

1825 

96.  Hentz,   N.   M. — Tadeuskund,   the   Last   King  of  the 

Lenape.    An  Historical  Tale.     Boston,   1825. 

97.  McHenry,  James.     (See  also  Nos.  84,  85,  94) — The 

Hearts  of  Steel,  an  Irish  Historical  Tale  of  the  Last 
Century.    By    the    Author    of    "The    Wilderness," 
"  O'Halloran,"  etc.    Philadelphia,  1825.    2  vols. 
t98.     Murgatroyd,   Matthew — The   Refugee.     A  Romance. 
By  Capt.  Mathew  Murgatroyd,  of   the  Ninth  Con- 


117 

tinentals  in  the  Revolutionary  War.  New  York, 
1825.  2  vols. 

99.  Neal,  John.    (  See  also  Nos.  69,  76,  86,  87, 88, 127, 141 ) — 

Brother  Jonathan;  or  the  New  Englanders.  Edin 
burgh  and  London,  1825.  3  vols. 

100.  Sedgwick,  Catherine  Maria.     (See  also  Nos.  77.  95, 

120,  142)— The  Travellers.    A  Tale.     Designed  for 
Young  People.    By  the  author  of  "  Redwood."    New 
York,  1825. 
"  101.     Saratoga;  a  Tale  of  the  Revolution.     Boston,   1825. 

2  VOls. 

*  102.  The  Two  Sisters,  or  the  Exiles  of  Roseville  Castle. 
A  moral  tale  founded  on  facts  connected  with  the 
French  Revolution.  Providence,  1825. 

t  103.  The  Witches  of  N E.  A  Romance.  Phila 
delphia,  1825. 

104.  Cheney,  Harriet  Vaughan.       (See  also  No.  116) — A 

Peep  at  the  Pilgrims  in  1636.  A  tale  of  Olden 
Times,  by  the  author  of  Divers  Unfinished  Manu 
scripts,  etc.  Boston,  1825.  2  vols. 

105.  Child,  Lydia  Maria.   (See  also  No.  91 ) — The  Rebels,  or 

Boston  before  the  Revolution.    Boston,  1825. 

106.  Cooper,  James  Fenimore.   (  See  also  Nos.  71, 73, 82, 83, 

112,  117,  122.  134,  139) — Lionel  Lincoln;  or  the 
Leaguer  of  Boston.  By  the  author  of  The  Pioneers, 
Pilot,  etc.  New  York,  1825.  2  vols. 

107.  Coultershoggle,  Mungo.     (See  also  No.  113) — Gos- 

lington  Shadow :  A  Romance  of  the  Nineteenth  Cen 
tury.  By  Mungo  Coultershoggle,  Esq.  New  York, 

1825.      2   VOls. 

f  108.     Furman,  Garrat — Redfield :  A  Long  Island  Tale  of 

the  Seventeenth  Century.     New  York,  1825. 
109.     Hart,  Catherine  Julia.     (See  also  No.  92) — Tonne- 
wonte ;  or  the  Adopted  Son  of  America.    A  Tale,  by 
an  American.    Watertown,  N.  Y.,  1825.    2  vols. 

1826 

fno.  The  Highlands.  A  Tale  of  the  Hudson.  Philadel 
phia,  1826.  2  vols. 


118 

*"£     in.     Yorktown.      An    Historical    Romance.      Boston,    1825. 
2  vols. 

112.  Cooper,  James  Fenimore.  (See  also  Nos.  71,  73,  82,  83, 

106,  117,  122,  134,  139) — The  Last  of  the  Mohicans, 
A  Narrative  of  1757.  By  the  author  of  The  Pion 
eers.  Philadelphia,  1826.  2  vols. 

113.  Coultershoggle,  Mungo.     (See  also  No.  107) — Leslie 

Linkfield.  A  Novel:  By  the  Author  of  Goslington 
Shadow.  Rochester,  1826.  2  vols. 

114.  Flint,  Timothy.   (See  also  Nos.  123,  135,  140) — Francis 

Berrian,  or  the  Mexican  Patriot.  Boston,  1826. 
2  vols. 

1827 

115.  Nahant;  or,  "The  Floure  of  Souvenance  ".     Philadel 

phia,  1827. 

116.  Cheney,  Harriet  Vaughan.     (See  also  No.  104) — The 

Rivals  of  Acadia,  an  old  story  of  the  New  World. 
Boston,  1827. 

1 17.  Cooper,  James  Fenimore.     (See  also  Nos.  71,  73,  82,  83, 

1 06,  112,  122,  134,  139) — The  Red  Rover;  a  Tale. 
By  the  Author  of  The  Pilot,  etc.  Philadelphia  (1827, 
Wegelin;  1828,  Lounsbury).  2  vols. 

*  118.     Hale,  Mrs.  S.  J.— Northwood ;  a  Tale  of  New  Eng 

land.     By  Mrs.  S.  J.  Hale.     Boston,   1827.     2  vols. 

119.  Royall,  Anne — The  Tennessean;  a  novel   founded  on 

facts.  By  Mrs.  Anne  Royall,  author  of  Sketches  of 
History,  Life  and  Manners,  in  the  United  States. 
New  Haven,  1827. 

120.  Sedgwick,  Catharine  Maria.   (See  also  Nos.  77,  95,  100, 

142) — Hope  Leslie;  or  Early  Times  in  the  Massachu 
setts.  By  the  Author  of  Redwood.  New  York,  1827. 
2  vols. 

1828 

*  121.     Lafitte,  or  the  Barratarian  Chief.     New  York,  1828. 
122.     Cooper,  James  Fenimore.    (See  also  Nos.  71,  73,  82,  83, 

106,  112,  117,  134,  139) — The  Prairie;  a  Tale.     By 


119 

the  Author  of  the  Pioneers,  etc.  Philadelphia  (1828, 
Wegelin;  1827,  Lounsbury). 

123.  Flint,  Timothy.   (See  also  Nos.  114, 135, 140)— The  Life 

and  Adventures  of  Arthur  Clenning.  By  the  Author 
of  Recollections  of  ten  years  in  the  Valley  of  the 
Mississippi,  Francis  Berrian,  etc.  Philadelphia,  1828. 
2  vols. 

124.  Hawthorne,    Nathaniel — Fanshawe,    a    tale.      Boston, 

1828. 
*f  125.     Heath,  James  E.— Edge-Hill,  or  the  Family  of  the 

Fitzroyals.     A    Novel    by    a   Virginian.     Richmond, 

1828.     2  vols. 
f  126.     Hentz,  N.  M.,  or  Tucker,  George— The  Valley  of 

the  Shenandoah;  or  the  Mystery  of  the  Graysons. 

Second  edition.     New  York,  1828.     2  vols. 
127.     Neal,  John.     (See  also  Nos.  69,  76,  86,  87,  88,  99,  141) 

— Rachel  Dyer :  A  North  American  Story.    By  John 

Neal.    Portland,  1828. 
f  128.     Rowson,  Susannah — Charlotte's  Daughter :  or  Three 

Orphans.     Boston,  1828. 
f  129.     Sanford,  Ezekiel — The  Humours  of  Eutopia :  a  Tale 

of   Colonial   Times,   by   an   Eutopian.     Philadelphia, 

1828.     2  vols. 
f  130.     Smith,  Mrs.  Harrison — What  is  Gentility?  a  Moral 

Tale.     City  of  Washington,  1828. 

*  131.     Ware,  Henry,  Jr. — The  Recollections  of  Jotham  An 
derson.     Second  edition  enlarged.     With  other  pieces 

of  a  similar  character.     Boston,  1828. 

1829 

132.  A  Sketch  of  the  Olden  Time;  or,  General  Lee's  Farewell 

dinner  at  New  York.  Founded  on  fact,  being  the 
first  of  a  series  of  Revolutionary  tales  by  an  Anti 
quary.  New  York,  1829. 

133.  Tokeah;   or  the   White   Rose.     Philadelphia,    1829.     2 

vols. 

134.  Cooper,  James  Fenimore.     (See  also  Nos.  71,  73,  81, 

83,  1 06,  112,  117,  122,  139) — The  Wept  of  Wish-ton- 


120 

Wish :  a  Tale.  By  the  Author  of  the  Pioneers,  etc. 
Philadelphia,  1829. 

135.  Flint,  Timothy.    (See  also  Nos.  114,  123,  140) — George 

Mason,  the  Young  Backwoodsman,  or  "  Don't  Give  up 
the  Ship  ".  A  Story  of  the  Mississippi  Valley.  By 
the  Author  of  Francis  Berrian.  Boston,  1829. 

1830 

136.  The    Betrothed    of    Wyoming.      An    Historical    Tale. 

Philadelphia,  1830. 

*  137.    The  Sanfords,  or  Home  Scenes.     New  York,   1830. 
2  vols. 

138.  Brainard,  John  Gardiner  Calkins — Fort  Braddock  Let 

ters.  Washington,  D.  C,  1830.  (Fugitive  Tales, 
No.  i.) 

139.  Cooper,  James  Fenimore.    (See  also  Nos.  71,  73,  82,  83, 

106,  112,  117,  122,  134) — The  Water  Witch;  or  the 
Skimmer  of  the  Seas.  A  Tale.  By  the  Author  of 
the  Pilot,  Red  Rover,  etc.  Philadelphia,  1830.  2 
vols. 

140.  Flint,  Timothy.     (See  also  Nos.  114,  123,  135) — The 

Shoshonee  Valley,  a  romance.  By  the  Author  of 
Francis  Berrian.  Cincinnati,  1830.  2  vols. 

141 .  Neal,  John.      (See  also  Nos.  69,  76, 86, 87, 88, 99, 127) — 

Authorship,  A  tale  of  a  New-Englander  oversea. 
Boston,  1830. 

142.  Sedgwick,  Catharine  Maria.   (See  also  Nos.  77,  95,  100, 

120) — Clarence,  or  a  Tale  of  our  own  times.  By  the 
Author  of  Hope  Leslie.  Philadelphia,  1830.  2  vols. 

PART  II — GENERAL  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

The  dates  given  in  the  following  list  are  not  invariably  the 
dates  of  first  editions,  but  are  those  of  whatever  copies  it  was 
convenient  for  the  author  to  use. 

While  this  list  does  not  include  all  works  which  have  been 
examined  in  preparing  this  study,  it  contains  the  works  of  ref 
erence  used,  and  such  novels  as  are  specifically  mentioned  in 


121 

the  text  or  footnotes.     No  novels  or  magazines  which  are  not 

so  mentioned  are  included. 

Alexis;  or,  the  Cottage  in  the  Woods.     Boston,  1796. 

The  American  Moral  and  Sentimental  Magazine.  New  York, 
1817. 

The  American  Museum.     Philadelphia,  1792. 

Appleton's  Cyclopedia  of  American  Biography.  New  York, 
1888. 

Bennett,  Mrs.    De  Valcourt.    Philadelphia,  1801. 

Brown,  C.  B.     Novels.     Boston,  1827.     6  vols. 

Booknotes.     Providence,  R.  I.,  1904-5. 

Carpenter,  G.  R.     American  Prose.     1899. 

Cross,  W.  L.  The  Development  of  the  English  Novel.  New 
York,  1904. 

Cooper,  James  Fenimore.  Works.  New  York,  1896.  32 
vols. 

Dall,  Mrs.  C.  H.  The  Romance  of  the  Association.  Cam 
bridge,  1875. 

Davis,  John.  Travels  of  Four  Years  and  a  Half  in  the  United 
States  of  America.  London,  1803. 

Dunlap,  William.  A  History  of  the  American  Theatre.  New 
York,  1832. 

Dunlap,  William.  Life  of  Charles  Brockden  Brown.  Phila 
delphia,  1815. 

Duyckinck,  E.  A.  and  G.  L.  Cyclopaedia  of  American  Lit 
erature.  Philadelphia,  1875. 

Dwight,  Timothy.  Travels  in  New  England  and  New 
York.  London,  1823. 

The  Fortnightly  Review.     London,  1878. 

Furst,  Rudolf.  Die  Vorlaiifer  der  modernen  Novelle  im  acht- 
zehnten  Jahrhundert.  Halle,  1897. 

Gentleman's  Magazine.     London,  1800,  1804,  1811. 

Godwin,  William.     Caleb  Williams.     London,  n.  d. 

Godwin,  William.  Enquiry  concerning  political  justice  and 
its  influence  on  morals  and  happiness.  London,  1842. 

Godwin,  William.  Fleetwood,  or  the  New  Man  of  Feeling. 
New  York,  1805. 

Godwin,  William.  Mandeville;  a  tale  of  the  Seventeenth 
Century  in  England.  Philadelphia,  1818. 


122 

Griswold,  Rufus  Wilmot.     Prose  Writers  of  America.     Lon 
don,  1847. 

Milliard  d'Auberteuil,  Michel  Rene.     Miss  Macrae.     Phila 
delphia,  1784. 

Hawthorne,  Nathaniel.     Mosses  from  an  Old  Manse.     Bos 
ton,  n.  d. 

Hettner,    Hermann.      Geschichte    der    deutschen    Literatur. 
Braunschweig,  1894. 

Ingram,  John  H.     Edgar  Allan  Poe,  His  Life,  Letters,  and 
Opinions.     London,  1886. 

Irving,  Peter.     Giovanni   Sbogarro.     A  Venetian  Tale.     By 
Percival  G .     New  York,  1821. 

von  Knigge,  A.  F.  F.  L.    Practical  Philosophy  of  Social  Life 
(tr.  by  P.  Will).     Lansingburgh,  N.  Y.,  1805. 

Lennox,  Charlotte.     The  Female  Quixote,  or  the  Adventures 
of  Arabella.    London,  1810. 

The  Literary  Gazette  and  American  Athenaeum,  1827. 

Lodge,  Henry  Cabot.     Studies  in  History.     Boston,  1884. 

Lounsbury,  T.  R.     James  Fenimore  Cooper  (American  Men 
of  Letters  Series).     Boston,  n.  d. 

Lowell,  James  Russell.     A  Fable  for  Critics.     Boston,  1865. 

The  Massachusetts  Magazine,  or  Monthly  Museum.     Boston, 
1790-96. 

Maigron,  Louis.     Le  Roman  Historique  a  1'Epoque  Roman- 
tique.    Paris,  1898. 

Matthews,  Brander.     The  Historical  Novel  and  Other  Es 
says.     New  York,  1901. 

~>  Morton,  Sarah  Wentworth.     Ouabi,  or  the  Virtues  of  Na 
ture.     Boston,  1790. 

Nason,  Elias.     Memoir  of  Mrs.   Susanna  Haswell  Rowson. 
Albany,  N.  Y.,  1870. 

The  Nation,  1904-5. 

The  New  York  Evening  Post,  1904-5. 

The  New  York  Magazine,  1790-97. 

The  New  York  Times  Saturday  Review,  1904-5. 

The  North  American  Review,  Boston,  1815,  1819,  1821,  1825, 
1852. 

Ossoli,    Margaret    Fuller.     Papers    on    Literature    and   Art. 
London,  1846. 


123 

Parkman,  Francis.     In  North  American  Review,  1852. 

Paul,  C.  Kegan.  William  Godwin:  His  Friends  and  Con 
temporaries.  London,  1876. 

Peacock,  T.  L.     Gryll  Grange.     London,  1896. 

Peacock,  T.  L.     Nightmare  Abbey.     London,  1896. 

Pratt,  S.  J.  Emma  Corbett.  Newburyport,  n.  d.  (Dublin, 
1780.) 

Poe,  Edgar  Allan.     Works.     Edinburgh,  1890.     Vol.  IV. 

Poe,  Edgar  Allan.     Works.     Chicago,  1895.    Vol.  VIII. 

Prescott,  W.  H.  Biographical  and  Critical  Miscellanies. 
Philadelphia,  1882. 

Radcliffe,  Ann.  The  Castles  of  Athlin  and  Dunbayne.  Phila 
delphia,  1796. 

Radcliffe,  Ann.     The  Italian.     Chiswick,  1826. 

Radcliffe,  Ann.     Mysteries  of  Udolpho.     London,  1824. 

Radcliffe,  Ann.  The  Romance  of  the  Forest.  Chiswick, 
1823. 

Raleigh,  Walter.     The  English  Novel.     New  York,  1906. 

The  Retrospective  Review.     London,  1824. 

Revue  de  Paris,  1784. 

Robison,  John.  Proofs  of  a  Conspiracy  against  all  the  Re 
ligions  and  Governments  of  Europe.  Philadelphia, 
1798. 

Rowson,  Susannah.  (F.  W.  Halsey,  ed.)  Charlotte  Temple. 
New  York,  1905. 

Saintsbury,  George.  A  History  of  Nineteenth  Century  Lit 
erature.  London,  1899. 

Sand,  George.    La  Comtesse  de  Rudolstadt.    Bruxelles,  1851. 

Sands,  R.  C.,  and  Eastburn,  J.  W.  Yamoyden.  A  tale  of 
the  Wars  of  Philip.  1820. 

Smollet,  Tobias.     Miscellaneous  Works.     1800.     Vol.  VI. 

Smyth,  Albert  H.  The  Philadelphia  Magazines  and  their 
Contributors.  Philadelphia,  1892. 

Snelling,  W.  J.     Tales  of  the  Northwest.     Boston,  1830. 

Sparks,  Jared.     Library  of  American  Biography.     Vol.  I. 

Trent,  W.  P.  History  of  American  Literature.  New  York, 
1903. 

Trent,  W.  P.  and  Wells,  B.  W.  Colonial  Prose  and  Poetry. 
1901. 


124 

Thackeray,  W.  M.     Round  About  Papers.     Boston,  1883. 
Tyler,  Moses  Coit.     The  Literary  History  of  the  American 

Revolution.     New  York,  1897. 
Tyler,  Moses  Coit.     History  of  American  Literature  during 

the  Colonial  Time. 

Walpole,  Horace.     The  Castle  of  Otranto.     London,  1782. 
Wegelin,  Oscar.     Early  American  Fiction.     Stamford,  Conn., 

1902. 
Wendell,    Barrett.     Literary   History   of   America.     Boston, 

1900. 

Wilkens,  Frederick  H.    The  Early  Influence  of  German  Lit 
erature  in  America.     New  York,  n.  d. 
Will,  P.  (translator).    Horrid  Mysteries.     From  the  German 

of  the  Marquis  of  Grosse.    London,  1796. 
Will,  P.    (translator).     Practical  Philosophy  of  Social  Life. 

From  the  German  of  Baron  Knigge.     Lansingburgh, 

N.  Y,  1805. 
Wood,  S.  S.  B.  K.     Tales  of  the  Night.     Portland,  1827. 


INDEX 


Adventures  of  Captain  John  Far 
rago  and  Teague  O'Regan  his 
Servant,  by  H.  H.  Brackenridge, 
22-23 

Adventurous  travel,  The  tale  of,  24 

Alcuin,  by  C.  B.  Brown,  32,  45 

Algerine  Captive,  by  Roy  all  Tyler, 
Extract  from  preface  to  the,  2-3 ; 
25 

Amateurishness  of  the  early  novels, 
26 

Amelia,  or  the  Faithless  Briton, 
the  oldest  American  tale  of  the 
Revolution,  61 

America  had  no  feudal  past  as  a 
basis  for  fiction,  60 

American  and  British  novels,  Prices 
of,  26-27 

American  novelists,  Efforts  of,  ex 
pended  in  vain,  82 

Art  of  Courting,  The,  by  Rev.  Enos 
Hitchcock,  21  ;  inspired  by  De 
foe's  Religious  Courtship,  22 

Arthur  Clenning,  by  Timothy  Flint, 
The  heroine  of,  87,  96 

Arthur  Mervyn,  by  C.  B.  Brown, 
33;  analyzed,  43-45 

Asylum,  The,  or  Alonzo  and, 
Melissa,  by  I.  Mitchell,  53 ;  dis 
puted  authorship  of,  53 ;  analyzed, 
54-56 

Bage,  Robert,  variously  character 
ized  by  Raleigh,  Saintsbury  and 
Cross,  4 

Belles  Lettres  Club,  The,  31 

Betrothed  of  Wyoming,  The,  99-100 

Bibliography,  106-24 

Biloquialism,  38-39 

Bleecker,  Mrs.  Ann  Eliza,  History 
of  Maria  Kettle,  66-67 

Books  of  mere  amusement,  Demand 
for,  3 


Brackenridge,  Hugh  Henry,  and  his 
satirical  novel,  Modern  Chivalry, 
22-23,  22n 

Brainerd,  J,  G.  C.,  Fort  Braddock 
Letters,  io3n 

Brethren  of  the  Common  Weal,  43n 

Brother  Jonathan,  or  the  New  Eng- 
landers,  by  John  Neal,  the  long 
est  American  novel,  93 

Brown,  Charles  Brockden,  the  first 
gifted  American  novelist,  29 ;  a 
follower  of  Wm.  Godwin,  30 ; 
early  career,  30-32 ;  biography  by 
W.  Dunlap,  3on ;  his  Alcuin,  32 ; 
his  interest  in  German  literature, 
;  influenced  by  W.  Godwin's 
Caleb  Williams,  32-34 ;  Wieland, 
or  the  Transformation,  33 ;  ana 
lyzed,  37-38;  Sky  Walk,  unpub 
lished,  33  ;  Arthur  Mervyn,  33  ; 
analyzed,  43-45 ;  Edgar  Huntly, 
or  Memoirs  of  a  Sleep-walker, 
33,  45,  575  analyzed,  69-73;  Or- 
mond,  or  the  Secret  Witness,  33, 
40-41,  44,  45 ;  edits  Monthly 
Magazine  and  American  Review, 
33 ;  Jane  Talbot,  33,  45,  48-50 ; 
Clara  Howard,  33,  45,  46-48,  50 ; 
edits  Literary  Magazine  and 
American  Register,  34 ;  his  liter 
ary  work,  34-35  ;  use  of  biloquial- 
ism  in  Memoirs  of  Carwin,  the 
Biloquist,  38-39 ;  his  dream  of 
an  ideal  commonwealth,  39-41 ; 
Sketches  of  the  History  of  Carsol 
and  Sketches  of  the  History  of 
the  Carrils  and  Ormes,  40-41 ;  his 
women  not  interesting,  49 ;  his 
"  horrific  greatness,"  49-50  ;  pic 
tures  of  life  in  Philadelphia,  50 ; 
debts  of,  to  Godwin,  50-51 ;  his 
only  follower,  George  Watterston, 
51-52;  an  isolated  figure  in  the 


125 


126 


American  literature  of  his  time, 
57-58 ;  varying  estimates  of  his 
work,  s8n ;  his  attitude  toward  the 
Indian,  72 ;  new  adornments  in 
the  fiction  of,  73 ;  his  idea  of 
facility  of  composition,  74 ; 
neglect  of,  by  his  countrymen,  82 ; 
founded  no  school,  104;  work  of 
his  and  Cooper's  contemporaries, 
104 

Brownell,  W.  C,  on  Cooper's 
novels,  84n ;  on  his  heroines,  86 

Bunker's  Hill,  dramatic  poem  by 
H.  H.  Brackenridge,  22n 

Caleb  Williams,  by  William  Godwin, 
32 ;  influence  of,  on  C.  B.  Brown, 
34,  57;  analyzed,  35-37J  discus 
sion  of,  36n 

Captain  Smith  and  Princess  Poca- 
hontas,  an  Indian  Tale,  by  John 
Davis,  75  ;  analyzed,  75-77 

Castle  of  Otranto,  by  Horace  Wai- 
pole,  29 

Castles  of  Athlyn  and  Dunbane,  by 
Mrs.  Anne  Radcliffe,  29 

Champion  of  Freedom,  The,  or  the 
Mysterious  Chief,  by  Samuel 
Woodworth,  analyzed,  79-80 

Cheney,  Harriet  Vaughan,  daughter 
of  Hannah  Foster,  100 ;  A  Peep 
at  the  Pilgrims  in  1636,  101 ; 
Rivals  of  Acadia,  101 

Child,  Lydia  Maria,  Hobomok,  100- 
101  ;  her  literary  work,  loon; 
The  Rebels,  or  Boston  before  the 
Revolution,  101 

Clara  Howard,  or  the  Enthusiasm 
of  Love,  by  C.  B.  Brown,  33, 
45,  46-48,  50 

Colonial  spirit,  The,  and  its  in 
fluence  on  early  American  taste 
for  fiction,  i,  2 

Commonwealth,  ideal,  C.  B.  Brown's 
dream  of  an,  39-41,  43  ' 

Constantia  Neville;  or,  the  West 
Indian,  by  Helena  Wells,  15 

Cooper,  James  Fennimore,  and  his 
contemporaries,  82-105 ;  estab 
lished  novel-writing  in  American 
literature,  84 ;  Precaution,  84,  85  ; 


The  Spy,  85,  94;  The  Pioneers, 
85,  86,  89 ;  The  Pilot,  85,  89 ;  his 
three  types  of  novel,  85,  103 ; 
Lionel  Lincoln,  85,  90 ;  his  repu 
tation  of  stiffness,  86 ;  the  ques 
tion  of  his  heroines,  86-87 ; 
Leather-stocking  tales,  87,  88n, 
89 ;  his  Indians,  88-89  ;  criticisms 
of,  88n ;  his  introduction  of 
comic  relief  and  eccentric  char 
acter,  89 ;  neglect  of  his  sea- 
stories,  89 ;  inferior  to  Scott  in 
character  drawing,  90 ;  his  land 
scape,  90 ;  other  tales,  90-91  ; 
The  Sea  Lions,  91  ;  road  to  rec 
ognition  of  his  greatness,  92 ; 
Satanstoe,  gzn ;  unapproached  by 
his  rivals,  103  ;  work  of  his  con 
temporaries  better  than  that  of 
C.  B.  Brown's,  104;  use  of  Amer 
ican  material,  104-105 ;  realized 
the  ambitions  of  his  humble  pre 
decessors,  105 

Coquette,  The,  by  Mrs.  Foster,  ana 
lyzed,  13-14 

Cornelia,  Mother  of  the  Gracchi,  21 

Coultershoggle,  Mungo,  Leslie  Link- 
field,  99 

Courtships,  Seven  typical,  21 

Dall's,  Mrs.  C.  H.,  Romance  of  the 
Association,  i4n 

Davis,  John,  and  his  Indian  tales, 
74-77 ;  The  Original  Letters  of 
Ferdinand  and  Elizabeth,  74 ; 
The  Farmer  of  New  Jersey,  74 ; 
The  Wanderings  of  William,  74 ; 
The  Post  Captain,  74,77;  Travels, 
75  ;  on  the  Indians,  75  ;  First  Set 
tlers  of  Virginia,  75 ;  condensed 
as  Captain  Smith  and  Princess 
Pocahontas,  75 ;  commended  by 
C.  B.  Brown,  75  ;  analyzed,  75-76 ; 
Walter  Kennedy,  an  American 
Tale,  77 

Didactic,  The,  and  the  sentimental, 
1-28 

Didacticism,  Various  types  of,  17-23 

Didacticism  and  sentimentality  of 
the  British  novel,  6;  of  the  first 
American  novels,  7 


127 


Dorval,  or  the  Speculator,  by  Mrs. 

Wood,  53 
Dwight,  Timothy,  on  novels,  i 

Edgar  Huntly,  or  the  Memoirs  of  a 

Sleep-walker,  by  C.  B.  Brown,  33, 

45,  57;  analyzed,  69-73 
Edgeworth,    Miss,    6 ;    Irish    stories 

of,  84 

Educational  tale,  The,  20-21 
Edwin  and  Angelina,  opera  by  Dr. 

E.  H.  Smith,  32 
Emigrants,    The,   by   Gilbert   Imlay, 

68-69 
Emma   Corbett,   or  the  Miseries  of 

Civil  War,  6in 
English    criticism,    Dependence    on, 

82 
English  novel,  Deplorable  influence 

of  the,  3  ;   not  supplanted  by  the 

early  American,  27;  popularity  of 

the,  82 
Evelina,      Appearance      of      Fanny 

Burney's,  4 

Farmer  of  New  Jersey,  The,  by 
John  Davis,  74 

Farmer's  Friend,  The;  or  the  His 
tory  of  Mr.  Charles  Worthy,  by 
Rev.  Enos  Hitchcock,  21 

Farmer's  library,  Change  in  the 
books  in  the,  3 

Father  of  American  Fiction,  C.  B. 
Brown  called  the,  29 

Female  Review,  The  heroine  of  the, 

65 

Fiction,  The  changed  attitude 
toward,  3 

Fidele;  or  the  Faithful  Shepherd, 
16 

Fielding,  The  influence  of,  5 

First  American  Novelist,  The,  C.  B. 
Brown  called,  29 

First  Settlers  of  Virginia,  The,  by 
John  Davis,  75 ;  republished  as 
Captain  Smith  and  Princess 
Pochahontas,  an  Indian  Tale,  75 

Flint,  Timothy,  Francis  Berrian,  or 
the  Mexican  Patriot,  96 ;  Life  and 
Adventures  of  Arthur  Clenning, 
87,  96 ;  George  Mason,  or  the 


Young  Backwoodsman,  96 ;  Sho- 
shonee  Valley  analyzed,  96-97 ; 
career  and  other  writings  of,  g6n ; 
characterized,  97 

Fortune's  Football,  or  the  Adven 
tures  of  Mercutio,  analyzed,  24—25 

Foster,  Mrs.  Hannah  Webster,  2, 
I3n;  her  Coquette  analyzed,  13- 
14;  the  most  readable  of  all  the 
early  novels,  14 ;  The  Boarding 
School  and  Lessons  of  a  Precep 
tress,  isn 

Francis  Berrian,  or  the  Mexican 
Patriot,  by  T.  Flint,  96 

Friendly  Club,  The,  31 

Fuller,  Margaret,  on  Brown  and 
Godwin,  5 in 

Gamesters,  The ;  or,  Ruins  of  Inno 
cence,  by  Mrs.  Warren,  14 

Godwin,  William,  Caleb  Williams, 
Influence  of,  30,  32,  34,  50;  ana 
lyzed,  35—37;  discussion  of,  36n; 
Brown's  debts  to,  50-51,  57 

Gothic,  The,  and  the  revolutionary, 
29-58 

Gothic  novel,  Reign  of  the,  29 ; 
essence  of  the,  30;  reaction 
against  the,  56n 

Hapless  Orphan,  The,  or  Innocent 
Victim  of  Revenge,  analyzed,  17- 

19 
Hart,  Catherine  Julia,  Canada's  first 

novelist,  103 
Hentz,  N.  M.,  Tadeuskund,  the  Last 

King  of  the  Lenape,   98-99;   the 

husband  of  Caroline  Lee  Whiting, 

98n 
Hilliard  d'Auberteuil,   Michel  Rene, 

Miss    MacRae    analyzed,    61-63; 

other  works  of,  6 in 
Historical  novels  and  Indian  tales, 

Early,  59~8i 
History  of  Constantius  and  Pulchera, 

or  Constancy  rewarded,  analyzed, 

64-65 

History  of  Maria  Kettle,  by  Mrs. 
Ann  E.  Bleecker,  66-67 


128 


History  of  the  Female  American } 
or  the  Extraordinary  Adventures 
of  Unca  Eliza  Winkfield,  Com 
piled  by  Herself,  analyzed,  77-79 

Hitchcock,  Rev.  Enos,  on  novel 
reading,  2 ;  on  independence  in 
culture,  2 ;  and  his  educational 
tales,  20-22 ;  Memoirs  of  the 
Bloomsgrove  Family,  20-21  ;  The 
Farmer's  Friend;  or  the  History 
of  Mr.  Charles  Worthy,  21 ;  The 
Art  of  Courting,  21  ;  Massachus 
etts  Magazine  on,  2 in 

Hobomok,    by    Lydia    Maria    Child, 

IOO-IOI 

Hope  Leslie,  or  Early  Times  in  the 

Massachusetts,    by    Catherine    M. 

Sedgwick,  102-103 
Horrid  Mysteries  by  the  Marquis  of 

Grosse,  42 
Humphrey  Clinker,  the  last  book  of 

the  century  by  a  great  novelist,  4 

Idealism  and  Infamy,  43 

Idol  of  the  sun  and  its  temple,  78-79 

Illuminati,    The   Order  of   the,   41- 

43^  52 
Imlay,  Gilbert,  The  Emigrants,  68- 

69 

Inchbald,   Mrs.,   34,   68 
Indian,    The,    in   fiction,    60,    66-68, 

92 ;  C.  B.  Brown's  attitude  toward 

the,     72-73 ;    exploitation    of,    by 

John    Davis,    74,    75 ;    by    J.    F. 

Cooper,   88-89  J   by   later  writers, 

103-104 
Indian  tales,  Early  historical  novels 

and,  59-81 
Indians,    Use    of,    in    war,    63,    66 ; 

Brown    emphasized    their    faults, 

Cooper  their  virtues,  88-89 
Individuality,  The  cult  of,  50 
Ingenu,  Voltaire's,  60 
Italian,  The,  by  Mrs.  Radcliffe,  29 

Jane   Talbot,  by   C.   B.   Brown,   33, 

45,   48-50 
Julia  and  the  Illuminated  Baron,  by 

Mrs.  Wood,  52-53 

Keep  Cool,  by  John  Neal,  92 
Kelroy,  by  Rebecca  Rush,  15 


King,  Sophia,  Waldorf,  or  the  Dan 
gers  of  Philosophy,  52n 

Knigge,  Baron  von,  Ueber  den 
Umgang  mit  Menschen,  42 

Lennox,    Mrs.    Charlotte,    and    her 

novels,  7n 
Leslie    Linkfield     by     M.     Coulter- 

shoggle,  99 
Literary  activity,  Early,  in  America, 

i 
Literary    Magazine    and    American 

Register,  34 

Logan,  by  John  Neal,  92 
Lounsbury,   T.   R.,  Life  of  Cooper, 

84n ;  on  Cooper's  heroines,  86 

McHenry,    James,    The    Wilderness, 

or  Braddock's  Times,  94-95 ;  The 

Spectre  of   the  Forest,  95 ;   Irish 

insurrectionary  tales,  95 
Massachusetts  Magazine,  the  shrine 

of    sentimental    didacticism,     15; 

character  of  its   contents,    15-16; 

criticism  of  The  Hapless  Orphan, 

i7n;  of  the  Art  of  Courting,  2in 
Matthews,   Brander,    The  Historical 

Novel  and  other  Essays,  sgn 
Memoirs   of   Carwin,    the  Biloquist, 

by  C.  B.  Brown,  38-39 
Memoirs  of  Stephen  Calvert,  by  C. 

B.  Brown,  33 
Memoirs       of       the.      Bloomsgrove 

Family,  by  Rev.  Enos  Hitchcock, 

20-21 

Miss  MacRae,  by  Hilliard  d'Auber- 
teuil,  analyzed,  61-63 

Mitchell,  I.,  The  Asylum,  or  Alonzo 
and  Melissa,  53-54 

Modern  Chivalry,  a  Quixotic  satir 
ical  novel  by  Hugh  Henry  Brack- 
enridge,  22-23,  26 

Monthly  Magazine  and  American 
Review,  33 

Morton,  Mrs.  Sarah  Wentworth,  the 
first  American  novelist,  7;  the 
American  Sappho,  7 ;  her  novel, 
The  Power  of  Sympathy,  ana 
lysed,  7-9 ;  notice  of,  7n ;  in  the 
Massachusetts  Magazine,  15; 


129 


Ouabi,  or  the  Virtues  of  Nature, 
67-68 ;     lived     to     see     much     of 
Cooper's  work,   104-105 
Mysteries  of   Udolfo,  The,  by  Mrs. 
Radcliffe,  29 

Neal,  John,  on  American  critics,  in 
his  Randolph,  82-83  ;  Keep  Cool, 
92 ;  Logan,  92 ;  Seventy-six  and 
Randolph,  93  ;  Brother  Jonathan, 
or  the  New  Englanders,  93 ; 
Rachel  Dyer,  93  ;  erratic  work  of, 
94 ;  life  more  interesting  than  his 
novels,  94 

New  England  Tale,  A,  by  Catherine 
M.  Sedgwick,  102 

New  York  Magazine,  16 

Novel,  The,  noticeably  absent  from 
early  American  literature,  i  ; 
varieties  of,  6 ;  see  also  English 
novel 

Novel,  The  historical,  represents 
the  power  to  perceive  life  and 
color  in  the  pages  of  history,  59 

Novel,  The  romantic  type  of,  17; 
titles  of  several,  i7n 

Novel  reading,  Zeal  for,  26 

Novelist,  Colonial  America  pro 
duced  no,  i 

Novelists,  early  American,  Nervous 
consciousness  of  the,  i  ;  represent 
no  concerted  movement,  26 

Novelists,  English,  the  models  for 
aspiring  authors,  4,  6 

Novels,  Astonishing  quantity  of  un- 
classifiable,  4 ;  the  satirical  and 
Quixotic,  4-5  ;  inherited  elements 
and  favorite  ingredients  of,  5 

Novels,  The  didactic,  by  known  au 
thors,  27 

Novels,  The  early  American,  pos 
sess  no  literary  merit  or  original 
ity,  25-26 ;  modeled  on  British 
fiction,  27  ;  documents  in  the  his 
tory  of  taste,  28 

Oriental  tale,  The,  a  feature  of  the 
Massachusetts  Magazine,  16 

Original  Letters,  The,  of  Ferdinand 
and  Elizabeth,  by  John  Davis,  74 

Ouabi,  or  the  Virtues  of  Nature,  by 
Mrs.  Morton,  67-68 


Parkman,  Francis,  on  Cooper's  In 
dians,  88n 

Paulding,  James  Kirk,  Konigsmarke, 
or  the  Long  Finne,  103 

Peacock,  T.  L.,  Nightmare  Abbey, 
42n 

Peep  at  the  Pilgrims  in  1636,  by 
Harriet  V.  Cheney,  101 

Philadelphia,  C.  B.  Brown's  pic 
tures  of  life  in,  50 

Pocahontas  and  Capt.  Smith,  76 

Poetic  justice,  The  principle  of,   19 

Post  Captain,  The,  or  the  Wooden 
Walls  well  Manned,  by  John 
Davis,  74,  77 

Power  of  Sympathy,  The,  by  Mrs. 
Morton,  analyzed,  7-9;  its  senti 
ment  a  tepid  infusion  of  Sterne, 

9 

Puritan  spirit,  The,  in  early  Amer 
ican  culture,  i  ;  unbending  of,  2 

Quixotes,  The  various,  4-5 

Rachel  Dyer,  by  John  Neal,  93 
Radcliffe,  Mrs.  Anne,  3,  38,  56,  59, 

84 ;  and  her  Gothic  novels,  29 
Randolph,  by  John  Neal,  93 
Rebels,   The,   or  Boston  before   the 
Revolution,    by    Lydia    M.    Child, 
101 
Revolution,  The,  in  fiction,  60 ;  the 

oldest  American  tale  of,  61,  64 
Richardson,   The  influence  of,   5 
Robinson,    John,   Proofs  of   a   Con 
spiracy   against   all   the  Religions 
and      Governments      of     Europe, 
41-42 
Romance    of    the    Forest,    The,    by 

Mrs.  Radcliffe,  29 

Romantic  type  of  fiction,  The,  17-20 

Romanticism     illustrated     by     Mrs. 

Bennett's  De  Valcour,  6 ;  in  early 

American  novels,  7 

Rosalvo  Delmonmort,  by  Guy  Man- 

nering,  83 

Rowson,  Mrs.  Susanna  Haswell,  2, 
9-13 ;  her  Charlotte  Temple,  9, 
ii ;  analyzed,  12;  Rebecca,  10, 
ii  ;  Sarah;  or  the  Exemplary 
Wife,  10,  ii ;  Memoir,  by  Elias 


130 


Nason,  ion;  dramatic  writings, 
ion;  teacher  and  contributor  to 
periodicals,  1  1  ;  Victoria,  1  1  ; 
Mary,  or  the  Test  of  Honour,  n  ; 
The  Inquisitor,  or  the  Invisible 
Rambler,  n;  Mentoria,  or  the 
Young  Ladies  Friend,  11  ;  poems 
and  educational  works,  nn;  her 
command  of  the  sensational,  12  ; 
Lucy  Temple,  or  the  Three  Or 
phans,  12;  The  Trials  of  the  Hu 
man  Heart  and  its  horrors,  12- 
13;  essentially  a  realist,  13; 
Reuben  and  Rachel  shows  a  more 
romantic  influence,  i3n 

Royall,  Mrs.  Anne,  The  Tennes- 
sean,  97-98 

Rush,  Rebecca,  Kelroy,   15 

Sand,  George,  and  the  Illuminati, 
43n 

Saratoga,  99 

Scott,  Sir  Walter,  influenced  pro 
duction  of  no  American  novel, 
83  ;  novels  of,  national,  83n  ;  in 
troduced  a  new  form  and  new 
force  in  fiction,  84 

Sedgwick,  Catherine  Maria,  most 
successful  of  the  women  novelists 
of  the  period,  100  ;  A  New  Eng 
land  Tale,  or  Sketches  of  New 
England  Character  and  Manners, 
102;  Redwood,  102;  Hope  Leslie, 
or  Early  Times  in  the  Massa 
chusetts,  102-103  5  other  works, 


Sherburne,  Henry,  Oriental  Philan 

thropist,  4on 
Shoshonee  Valley,  by  T.  Flint,  ana 

lyzed,  96-97 
Sicilian  Romance,  A,  by  Mrs.  Anne 

Radcliffe,  29 

Sketch  of  the  Olden  Time,  A,  99 
Sketches  of  the  History   of  Carsol 

and  ^  Sketches   of   the  History   of 

the  Carrils  and  Ormes,  by  C.  B. 

Brown,  40-41 
Smith,    Dr.    Elihu    Hubbard,   Edwin 

and  Angelina,  32 
Smollett  on  female  authors,  6 
Sorrows   of    Werther,    Influence   of 


The,  on  early  American  novels, 
9n,  1 8 

Spectre  of  the  Forest,  The,  by 
James  McHenry,  95 

Spirit  of  national  self-conscious 
ness,  The,  2 

Stepmother,  The,  by  Helena  Wells, 
IS 

Sterne,  The  influence  of,  5 

Stories  designed  chiefly  for  amuse 
ment  almost  invariably  by  un 
known  authors,  27 

Symzonia,  or  a  Voyage  of  Discov 
ery,  by  Capt.  Adam  Seaborn,  91 

Tadeuskund,  the  Last  King  of  the 
Lenape,  by  N.  M.  Hentz,  98-99 

Tennessean,  The,  by  Mrs.  Anne 
Royall,  97-98 

Tenney,  Mrs.  Tabitha,  Satire  of,  in 
her  Female  Quixotism  exhibited 
in  the  Romantic  Opinions  and 
Extravagant  Adventures  of  Dor- 
casina  Sheldon,  19-20,  2on 

Thessalonica,  by  C.  B.  Brown,  33 

Towns,  Number  of,  in  which  Amer 
ican  novels  were  published,  26 

Tyler,  Royall,  on  the  demand  for 
books  of  amusement,  3 ;  on  the 
English  novel,  3  ;  and  his  literary 
work,  25n;  The  Algerine  Captive, 
25 

Utopian  commonwealth,  The,  of  C. 
B.  Brown,  39-41,  43 

Vancenza,      or      the     Dangers     of 

Credulity,  Sale  of,  sn 
Villains,    systematic,   Model   for,   in 

the  Illuminati,  41-43 
Vita,  125 
Voltaire's  Ingenu,  60 

Waldorf,  or  the  Dangers  of  Phi 
losophy,  by  Susan  King,  52n 

Walpole,  Horace,  Castle  of  Otranto, 
29 

Walter  Kennedy,  an  American  Tale, 
by  John  Davis,  77 


131 


Wanderings  of  William,  The,  by 
John  Davis,  74 

War  of  1812,  A  story  of  the,  79-80 

Warren,  Caroline  Matilda,  The 
Gamesters;  or,  Ruins  of  Inno 
cence,  14 

Washington,  George,  the  hero  of 
McHenry's  The  Wilderness,  95 

Watterston,  George,  in  The  Lawyer, 
or  Man  as  he  ought  not  to  be 
and  Glencarn,  or  the  Disappoint 
ments  of  Youth,  follows  Bage  as 
much  as  Brown,  52 ;  on  neglect  of 
American  novels,  82n 

Ways  of  the  Hour,  The,  by  J.  F. 
Cooper,  91 

Wells,  Helena,  The  Stepmother  and 
Constantia  Neville;  or  the  West 
Indian,  didactic  and  pedagogic,  15 

Widow,  The,  and  the  young  man,  47 

Wieland,  or  the  Transformation, 
by  C.  B.  Brown,  33 ;  analyzed, 
37-38 


Wilderness,  The,  or  Braddock's 
Times,  by  James  McHenry,  has 
Washington  as  a  hero,  94-95 

Will,  P.,  translator  of  Horrid  Mys 
teries,  42,  42n 

Women  novelists,  Number  and  pros 
perity  of,  5 ;  Smollett  on,  6 ;  in- 
spirers  of  our  first  novelists,  6 

Wood,  Mrs.  Sally  S.  B.  K.,  Plea  for, 
by  her  Baltimore  publisher,  in  her 
Ferdinand  and  Elmira,  6 ;  Julia 
and  the  Illuminated  Baron,  52- 
53 ;  Dorval,  or  the  Speculator, 
and  others,  53 

Woodworth,  Samuel,  The  Champion 
of  Freedom,  or  the  Mysterious 
Chief,  79-80 

Yellow  fever  in  New  York,   33 
Yellow  fever  plague  in  Philadelphia 

described  in  Brown's  Ormond  and 

Arthur  Mervyn,  44-45 


THE  COLUMBIA   UNIVERSITY  PRESS 

STUDIES  IN  ENGLISH 


Joseph  Glanvill 

A  Study  in  English  Thought  and  Letters  of  the  Seventeenth 

Century 
By  FERRIS  GREENSLET 

Cloth,  I2mo  pp.  xi  4-235  $i.$Qnet 

The  Elizabethan  Lyric 

By  JOHN  ERSKINE 
Cloth,  I2mo  pp.  xvi+344  $i.$onet 

Classical  Echoes  in  Tennyson 

By  WILFRED  P.  MUSTARD 

Cloth,  I2mo  pp.  xvi-f-  164  $1.25  net 

Outlines  of  the  Literary  History  of  Colonial 
Pennsylvania 

By  M.  XATHERINE  JACKSON 

Cloth,  8vo  pp.  vii-j-177  $1.25  net 

Byron  and  Byronism  in  America 

By  WILLIAM  ELLERY  LEONARD 

Paper,  8vo  pp.  vi-f-  126  $i.oonet 

Sir  Walter  Scott  as  a  Critic  of  Literature 

By  MARGARET  BALL 

Paper,  8vo  $1.00  net 

The  American  Novel 

By  LILLIE  DEMING  LOSHE 

Paper,  8vo  $1.00  net 

Studies  in  New  England  Transcendentalism 

By  HAROLD  C.  GODDARD 

Paper,  8vo  $1.00  net 

The  Macmillan  Company,  Agents,  66  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York 


VITA 

The  author  of  this  study  was  born  in  Stamford,  Connecti 
cut,  July  31,  1877.  From  1895  to  1899  she  was  a  student  at 
Bryn  Mawr  College  and  received  the  degree  of  A.B.  in  1899. 
From  1899  to  1900  she  was  a  student  at  Columbia  University 
under  the  faculty  of  Political  Science,  but  was  not  a  candidate 
for  a  degree.  In  1901  she  became  a  regular  student  under 
the  faculty  of  Philosophy,  received  the  degree  of  A.B.  in  1903, 
and  from  1901  to  1906,  with  the  exception  of  the  second 
semester  1904  to  1905,  took  courses  in  English  under  Pro- 
lessor  Price,  Professor  Trent,  Professor  Neilson,  and  Dr. 
Krapp,  and  in  Comparative  Literature  under  Professor 
Fletcher,  Professor  Spingarn,  and  Dr.  Chandler. 


RETURN     CIRCULATION  DEPARTMENT 
TO—*-     202  Main  Library 


LOAN  PERIOD  1 
HOME  USE 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

ALL  BOOKS  MAY  BE  RECALLED  AFTER  7  DAYS 

1  -month  loans  may  be  renewed  by  calling  642-3405 

6-month  loans  may  be  recharged  by  bringing  books  to  Circulation  Desk 

Renewals  and  recharges  may  be  made  4  days  prior  to  due  date 


DUE  AS  STAMPED  BELOW 

jliTfl  DKf  FFR  OQ  '< 

M  RECEIVED 

NOV  ?  5  1999 

nrL3_LWQi 

'••    3  ()  8  1991     rrinpi  u  ATIDISJ  HFPT 

U/lrKsULAM  IVJI>I  UCr  |( 

AUG081991 

MAK   151996 

'"  '  .                     .  W  +***  f) 

nFP.  1  5  1994  MAY  1  ft  199S 

:         |"^                                                         B*^V'V   ~™ 

-  j--.  IT  m  cri  i     nior-i  n  Afi.-..,—  — 

htOhlVtU 

-'uv-ij  P^;IV  UtPj. 

OPT                    DEC  13  1996 

CIRCULATION  DEP|.  mmm    „,  u   , 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA,  BERKELEY 

FORM  NO.  DD6,  60m,  12/80        BERKELEY,  CA  94720 

®$ 


UC    BERKELEY  LIBRARIE! 


C032010T12 


M 


